The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

ODE TO WOMEN.

Ye various forms of beauty to be admired
With mighty rage of conquest stor'd.
And universal sway,
Who heave th' unconquer'd bosom high
And roll a flood inviting eye,
O, all the circle gay
May miss the fine and secret art
To win the citadel of the heart,
For which you all contend
The coxcomb tribe may cloud your tale
But you will never, never gain
At lover or a friend,
If this your passion, this your praise
To shine, to dazzle, and to blaze,
You may be call'd divine!
But not a youth beneath the sky
Will say in secret, with a sigh,
O were that maid but mine!
You marshal, brilliant from the box.
Fans, feathers, diamonds, carried like
Your magazine of arms :
But 'tis the sweet sequester'd walk
The whispering hour, the tender talk,
That give you genuine charms.
The nymph-like robe, the natural grace,
The smile, the native of the face,
Resentment without art ;
The eye where pure affection beams
The tear from tenderness that streams,
The accents of the heart
The trembling frame, the living cheek,
Where, like the morning, blushes break
To crimson o'er the breast :
The look where sentiment is seen.
Fine passions moving o'er the mien
And all the soul express'd.--
Your beauties--thee--with thee you join
And reign on high by right divine,
The sovereigns of the world
Then to your Court the nations bow,
The Muse with pleasure the path will tread
Where Venus' car is hurl'd.
From dazzling deluges of snow,
From summer noon's meridian glow,
We turn our aching eye ;
To Nature's robe of vernal green,
To the blue curtain, all serene,
Of an autumnal sky.
The favourite tree of Beauty's Queen
Behold the myrtle's modest creep,
The Virgin of the grove !
Soft, from the circle of her star,
The tender turtles draw the car
Of Venus, add of Love
The growing charm invites the eye
See morning gradual paint the sky
With purple and with gold !
See spring approach with sweet delay
See rosebuds open to the ray,
And leaf by leaf unfold !
We love the alluring lines of grace
That leads the eye a wanton chase
And lets the fancy rove;
The walk of beauty ever leads,
And still beguiles but never ends
The labyrinth of love.
At times, to veil is to reveal
And to display is to conceal ;
Mysterious are your laws
The vision's finer than the view
Her landscape Nature never drew
So fair as Fancy draws,
A beauty safely is betray'd:
Enamours more, than if display'd:
All woman's charms were given
And o'er the bosom's vestal white,
The gauze appears a robe of light,
That veils, yet opens, Heaven
See Virgin Eve, with traces bland,
Fresh blooming from her Maker's hand
In orient beauty beams !
Fair on the river's margin laid:
She knew not that her image made
The angel in the stream.
Still ancient Eden blooms your own
But attired innocence alone
Secures the heav'nly spoil
For if beneath an Angel's mien,
The serpent's tortuous tail is seen
Our paradise is lost.
O Nature, Nature, thine the charm
Thy colours warm, thy features warm
Thy accents win the heart
Parisan paint of every kind,
That stains the body or the mind
Proclaims the harlot's art:
The midnight minstrel of the grove
Who still renews the hymn of love
And woos the wood to bear ;
Knows not the sweetness of his strain
Nor that, above the tuneful train
He charms the lover's ear,
The zone of Venus, heav'nly fine
In nature's handy work divine,
And not the web of art
And they who wear it never know
To what bewitching charm they owe
The empire of the heart.