The Providence Journal, And Town And Country Advertiser

Original Poetry.

DAPHNIS AND EVELINA.

WHEN midnight stretches out her shade,
And clouds of darkness wrap the skies,
Then will I go and view the glade
Where now my much-lov'd Daphnis lies.

Form'd with a mind above the pride
And glitt'ring splendor of the great,
He ventur'd not on pleasure's tide,
But sought repose in humbler state.

A lowly cottage he possess'd,
Contented there in peace to dwell,
The low, the sickly and oppress'd,
Found shelter in his humble cell.

Fair-handed peace, and rural joy,
And pleasure unconfin'd by care;
Bright transport's form, without alloy,
And ever-blooming health were there.

But EVELINA, fairest maid,
Would visit oft that humble place
In native innocence array'd,
Her mind unspotted as her face.

Her winning form, her soft address,
Kindled in Daphnis love's pure flame;
He felt the pangs of sweet distress,
And Evelina felt the same.

How soon their pleasures end in pain!
For fate the promis'd bliss denies;
Their parents turn with scorn disdain,
Forbid the match, and Daphnis dies.

Around thy melancholy tomb
The sweetest flow'rs of spring shall blow,
And cover, with their purple bloom,
The sacred earth that lies below.

There hapless Evelina stands,
Her bosom throbs with pain severe,
With grief she wrings her feeble hands
And dews the turf with many a tear.

Oft shall the silver star of eve,
While mounting in the clear blue sky
Pause o'er the spot, awhile to grieve,
And hide in clouds his twinkling eye.

Dear shade, accept these feeble lays,
Which flow sincerely from a friend.
Who knew thy worth in early days,
And now laments thy hapless end.

HERMES.