82
HOURS OF IDLENESS.
THE FIRST KISS OF LOVE.
Ἁ βάρβιτος δὲ χορδαῖς
Ἔρωτα μοῦνον ἠχεῖ.[1]
Anacreon [Ode 1].
1.
Away with your fictions of flimsy romance,
Those tissues of falsehood which Folly has wove;[2]
Give me the mild beam of the soul-breathing glance,
Or the rapture which dwells on the first kiss of love.
2.
Ye rhymers, whose bosoms with fantasy glow,[3]
Whose pastoral passions are made for the grove;
From what blest inspiration[4] your sonnets would flow,
Could you ever have tasted the first kiss of love.
3.
If Apollo should e'er his assistance refuse,
Or the Nine be dispos'd from your service to rove,
Invoke them no more, bid adieu to the Muse,
And try the effect, of the first kiss of love.
- ↑ [The motto was prefixed in Hours of Idleness.]
- ↑ Moriah[1] those air dreams and types has o'er wove.—[MS. Newstead.]
Those tissues of fancy Moriah has wove.—[P. on V. Occasions.]
↑ 1. Moriah is the "Goddess of Folly." - ↑ Ye rhymers, who sing as if seated on snow.—[P. on V. Occasions.]
- ↑ With what blest inspiration.—[MS. P. on V. Occasions.]
