Thespia XIX: From the first hour when I beheld the light

From the first hour when I beheld the light,
No time compared with this have I survey'd,
No day e'er rose with lustre half so bright,
No minutes shone in plumes so fair array'd.

At length Adversity hath spent her store,
Or with false aim her poison'd arrows fly;
Our spirits long deprest, again can soar,
No tears but those of bliss, shall wet our eye.

O my Beloved! this day shall ever stand,
With Me, the golden period of the year;
This day good Fortune waved her potent wand,
Dispersing all the mists of doubt and fear.

Ne'er may they rise again our joys between!
Ye unexpected ties propitious prove!
Fairer, and brighter still be every scene,
Pourtray'd by tenderness, illumed by love!