Ode to Content

Mild as the star-beam on the silent wave,
Soft as the tints of yon etherial bow,
That bends its bright arch o’er the dark concave,
And bids the storm its destined limit know,
Do thou, Content, with equal step sedate,
Rise o’er the mind’s dim clouds, and break the storms of Fate!

O! welcome as the spirit of the morn,
Whose diamond eyes prelude a golden day,
Choir’d by the linnets from the blossom’d thorn,
The green hill yellowing in her dewy ray,
As o’er its timid bosom soft she glides,
Silvering the winding rill, that warbles down its sides!

While, with a loosen’d zone, gay Pleasure strays,
Crowning with rosy wreaths the frolic hours,
While busy Fame collects immortal bays,
And Hope reclines in amaranthine bowers,
Round thee, Content, health-breathing sweets exhale,
As crops thy gentle hand yon lilies of the vale.

On fair HONORA may thy influence shine
For her thy cheek with purest blushes glow!
More does she prize one halcyon plume of thine
Than all that decks Ambition’s jewel’d brow.
Near her may thy light steps perpetual rove
With the associate forms of Fancy, Truth, and Love!