With pensive grace, the melancholy Swan
Mourns o'er the tomb of luckless Phaethon;
On grassy banks the weeping poplars wave,
And guard with tender card the wat'ry grave.
Would that I might, should I too proudly claim
An Heav'nly parent, or a God-like fame;
When flown too high, and dash'd to depths below,
Receive such tribute as a Cygnus' woe!
The faithful bird, that dumbly floats along,
Sighs all the deeper for his want of song.