"Ye soft'ning Luxuries! ye polish'd Arts! "Bend your enfeebling rays on tranquil Hearts! "I quit the Song, the Pencil, and the Lyre, "White robes of Peace, and Pleasure's soft Attire, "To seize the Sword, to mount the rapid Car, "In all the proud habiliments of War.-- "Honora lost! I woo a sterner Bride, "The arm'd Bellona calls me to her side; "Harsh is the music of our marriage strain! "It breathes in thunder from the Western plain! "Wide o'er the wat'ry world its echoes roll, "And rouse each latent ardour of my soul. "And tho' unlike the soft melodious lay, "That gaily wak'd Honora's nuptial day, "Its deeper tones shall whisper, e'er they cease, "More genuine transport, and more lasting peace! "Resolv'd I go!--nor from that fatal bourne "To these gay scenes shall André's step return! "Set is the Star of Love, that ought to guide "His refluent Bark across the mighty Tide!-- "But while my Country's Foes, with impious hand, "Hurl o'er the blasted plains the livid brand "Of dire Sedition!--Oh! let Heav'n ordain, "While André lives, he may not live in vain! "Yet without one kind farewell, could I roam "Far from my weeping Friends, my peaceful home, "The best affections of my heart must cease, "And gratitude be lost, with hope, and peace! My lovely Sisters! who were wont to twine "Your Souls' soft feeling with each wish of mine, "Shall, when this breast beats high at Glory's call, "From your mild eyes the show'rs of Sorrow fall?-- "The light of Excellence, that round you glows, "Decks with reflected beam your Brother's brows. "Oh! may his Fame, in some distinguish'd day, "Pour on that Excellence the brightest ray! "Dim clouds of woe! ye veil each sprightly grace "That us'd to sparkle in Maria's face.-- "My[76]tuneful Anna to her lute complains, "But Grief's fond throbs arrest the parting strains.-- "Fair as the silver blossom on the thorn, "Soft as the spirit of the vernal morn, "Louisa, chace those trembling fears, that prove "Th' ungovern'd terrors of a Sister's love. "They bend thy sweet head, like yon lucid flow'r, "That shrinks and fades beneath the summer's show'r-- "Oh! smile, my Sisters, on this destin'd day, "And with the radiant omen gild my way! "And thou, my Brother, gentle as the gale, "Whose breath perfumes anew the blossom'd vale, "Yet quick of Spirit, as th' electric beam, "When from the clouds its darting lightnings stream, "Soothe with incessant care our Mother's woes, "And hush her anxious sighs to soft repose.-- "And be ye sure, when distant far I stray "To share the dangers of the arduous day, "Your tender faithful amity shall rest "The[77] last dear record of my grateful breast.