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Mary Darby Robinson - Ode to HealthMary Darby Robinson - Ode to Health
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Come, bright-eyed maid,    Pure offspring of the tranquil mind,    Haste, my fev`rish temples bind    With olive wreaths of em`rald hue    Steep`d in morn`s ethereal dew,    Where in mild HELVETIA`s shade,    Blushing summer round her flings Warm gales and sunny show`rs that hang upon her wings.    I`ll seek thee in ITALIA`s bow`rs,    Where supine on beds of flow`rs    Melody`s soul-touching throng Strike the soft lute or trill the melting song:    Where blithe FANCY, queen of pleasure,    Pours each rich luxuriant treasure.    For thee I`ll climb the breezy hill,    While the balmy dews distill    Odours from the budding thorn,    Drop`d from the lust`rous lids of morn;    Who, starting from her shad`wy bed, Binds her gold fillet round the mountain`s head.  There I`ll press from herbs and flow`rs  Juices bless`d with opiate pow`rs,    Whose magic potency can heal  The throb of agonizing pain,    And thro` the purple swelling vein  With subtle influence steal:    Heav`n opes for thee its aromatic store    To bathe each languid gasping pore; But where, O where, shall cherish`d sorrow find The lenient balm to soothe the feeling mind.    O, mem`ry! busy barb`rous foe,    At thy fell touch I wake to woe:    Alas! the flatt`ring dream is o`er,    From thee the bright illusions fly,    Thou bidst the glitt`ring phantoms die, And hope, and youth, and fancy, charm no more.  No more for me the tip-toe SPRING  Drops flowrets from her infant wing;  For me in vain the wild thymes bloom  Thro` the forest flings perfume;    In vain I climb th`embroider`d hill  To breathe the clear autumnal air;    In vain I quaff the lucid rill  Since jocund HEALTH delights not there  To greet my heart:­no more I view,  With sparkling eye, the silv`ry dew Sprinkling May`s tears upon the folded rose, As low it droops its young and blushing head, Press`d by grey twilight to its mossy bed:  No more I lave amidst the tide,    Or bound along the tufted grove,    Or o`er enamel`d meadows rove,    Where, on Zephyr`s pinions, glide Salubrious airs that waft the nymph repose.    Lightly o`er the yellow heath    Steals thy soft and fragrant breath,    Breath inhal`d from musky flow`rs    Newly bath`d in perfum`d show`rs.    See the rosy-finger`d morn    Opes her bright refulgent eye,    Hills and valleys to adorn, While from her burning glance the scatter`d vapours fly.    Soon, ah soon! the painted scene,    The hill`s blue top, the valley`s green,    Midst clouds of snow, and whirlwinds drear,    Shall cold and comfortless appear:    The howling blast shall strip the plain,    And bid my pensive bosom learn,    Tho` NATURE`s face shall smile again,    And, on the glowing breast of Spring    Creation all her gems shall fling,    YOUTH`s April morn shall ne`er return.  Then come, Oh quickly come, Hygeian Maid!  Each throbbing pulse, each quiv`ring nerve pervade.  Flash thy bright fires across my languid eye,  Tint my pale visage with thy roseate die,  Bid my heart`s current own a temp`rate glow, And from its crimson source in tepid channels flow.  O HEALTH, celestial Nymph! without thy aid  Creation sickens in oblivions shade:  Along the drear and solitary gloom  We steal on thorny footsteps to the tomb;  Youth, age, wealth, poverty alike agree  To live is anguish, when depriv`d of Thee.  To THEE indulgent Heav`n benignly gave  The touch to heal, the extacy to save.  The balmy incense of thy fost`ring breath  Wafts the wan victim from the fangs of Death,  Robs the grim Tyrant of his trembling prize,  Cheers the faint soul, and lifts it to the skies.  Let not the gentle rose thy bounty drest  To meet the rising son with od`rous breast,  Which glow`d with artless tints at noon-tide hour,  And shed soft tears upon each drooping flower,  With with`ring anguish mourn the parting Day,  Shrink to the Earth, and sorrowing fade away.
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