A pastoral dialogue
SCENE---TOMHANICK.
1780.
SUSANNA.
Eliza, rise, the orient glows with day,
Already Phosphor darts his amber ray;
The fainting planets vanish from the skies,
Distinct already all the prospects rise;
Begin our walk, but cheer the lonely way
With music, previous to the swallow's lay.
ELIZA.
My sister, cease, these hostile shades refuse
Admission to the lute or peaceful Muse;
Lo! the broad standard shades the flow'ry plain,
Nor crooks (but musquets) arm the awkward swain;
Death's heavy engines thunder thro' the vale,
And Echo but retorts the savage yell;
From undissembled grief my numbers flow,
And few the graces that attend on woe.
SUSANNA.
Yet sing---e'en woe a pleasure can impart,
When sweetly warbled, or if told with art.
ELIZA.
Columbia rescued from barbaric pow'rs,
Drew all the sons of want unto her shores;
The indigent, th' opprest, a sighing host,
And wretches exil'd from their native coast;
For whom European affluence could not spare
A frugal morsel, pining Want to cheer;
Hither repair'd, and with incessant toil
Fell'd the tall trees from the incumber'd soil:
From the low cottage now recede the oaks,
The forest answers to the woodman's strokes;
Hard was the toil, but amply (soon) repaid
By golden harvests, which the valleys shade;
Vertumnes added to his native stores
Exotic fruits, and Flora planted flow'rs:
Then temples rose, the harbours open'd wide,
And wealthy ships flow'd in with every tide.
Thus rich and happy, virtue made them gay,
And hard got Freedom blest each cheerful day;
By industry those blessings they obtain'd,
And learn'd to value what they dearly gain'd.
---Americans! ye thought your labours o'er,
Ah no! the hydra Envy brings you more.
[...] Read more
poem by Ann Eliza Bleecker from The Posthumous Works of Ann Eliza Bleecker
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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