To --------- 1802.
To ---------
1802. [1]
The youth of broken fortunes sent to roam,
And banish'd early from his smiling home,
With aching heart, indignant, and opprest,
Shame on his cheek, and anguish in his breast,
Quits the lov'd scenes he hopes no more to view,5
In foreign climes new objects to pursue.
Soon other joys, and other sorrows come,
And from his memory fades his distant home;
Yet when revolving time with changeful hand,
Once more restores him to his native land,10
When stranger-like, unwelcom'd and unknown,
He wanders o'er lawns he call'd his own;
Sees other lords possess his fair domains,
The long-lov'd woods, and dear paternal plains,
There, as he hails the well-remember'd bowers,15
Each silent witness of his earliest hours,
Regret and tenderness once more return,
His eyes their long forgotten sorrows mourn,
Dejected, desolate, he looks around,
And treads with reverence on the sacred ground,20
Feels all the cheerless gloom he felt before,
When first an exile he forsook the shore.
And fondly thinks the scenes he lov'd a boy
Partake his sorrow, as they shar'd his joy.
Ev'n thus, estrang'd, divided from thy heart,25
Reluctant tenderness I bid depart,
For friendship thus denied forgot to care,
And hush'd the feelings which you scorn'd to share.
But when affection in thy glance I spy,
Or the sweet smile of kindness meets my eye,30
Once more my melting heart with love o'erflows,
Laments its former loss, and weeps forgotten woes.
