― [page break] ―

To Miss (18 years.) D.P.

	I
	To thee enchanting nymph, in artless guise,
	The muse untutor'd in poetic lore, —
	Her freedom yielding to Love's strictest ties,
	Now suits her song thy favors to implore

	II
	No longer now, thy kind regards withhold,
	Nor yield reluctant to a Virgin's fears,
	Nor when the secret of my love is told;
	Do thou dispiteous turn obdurate ears.

	III
	When absent or conceal'd, I mourn thy flight
	Auspicious fancy decks thy portrait gay
	Thy form still hovers on my raptur'd sight,
	As twilight glimmers on the skirts of day.

	IV
	But when thy gentle self appears in view,
	Like rosy Venus, absent from her sphere,
	Flames that inactive slept revive anew,
	My Breast attenuating glows with hope & fear

	V
	'Tis then I languish in ecstatic dream
	And claim the lover's portion to be blest
	What force has beauties' soft ethereal beam
	To raise new fervors in the impassion'd breast.