PRINCES, my fair, unfortunately great,
Born to the pompous vassalage of state,
Whene'er the public calls, are doom'd to fly
Domestic bliss, and break the private tye.
Fame pays with empty breath the toils they bear,
And love's soft joys are chang'd for glorious care.
Yet conscious virtue, in the silent hour,
Rewards the hero with a noble dower.
For this alone I dar'd to part with thee.
But while my bosom feels the nobler flame,
Still, unreprov'd, it owns thy gentler claim.
Tho' virtue's awful form my soul approves.
'Tis thine, thine only, ZARA, that it loves.
A private lot had made the claim but one,
The prince alone must love, for virtue, shun.
Ah! why, distinguish'd from the happier croud.
To me the bliss of millions disallow'd?
Why was I singl'd for imperial sway,
Since love, and duty, point a diff'rent way?
Fix'd the dread voyage, and the day decreed,
When duty's victim, love was doom'd to bleed,
Too well my mem'ry can those scenes renew,
We met to sigh, to weep our last adieu .
That conscious palm, beneath whose tow'ring shade
So oft our vows of mutual love were made;
Where hope so oft anticipated joy,
And plann'd of future years the blest employ;
That palm was witness to the tears we shed,
When that fond hope, and all those joys were fled,
Thy trembling lips, with trembling lips, I press'd,
And held thee panting, to my panting breast.
Our sorrow, grown too mighty to sustain,
Now snatch'd us, fainting, from the sense of pain.
Together sinking us in the trance divine,
I caught thy fleeting soul, and gave thee mine.
O! blest oblivion of tormenting care!
O! why recall'd to life and to despair?
The dreadful summons came, to part - and why?
Why not the kinder summons but to die?
To die together were to part no more,
To land in safety on some peaceful shore,
Where love's the business of immortal life?
And happy spirits only guess at strife.
' If in some distant land my prince should find
' Some nymph more fair, you cry'd, as ZARA kind -
Mysterious doubt ! which cou'd at once impart
Relief to mine, and anguish to thy heart.
Still let me triumph in the fear exprest,
The voice of love that whisper'd in thy breast ;
Nor call me cruel, for my truth shall prove
'Twas but the vain anxiety of love.
TORN from thy fond embrace, the strand I gain,
Where mourning friends inflict superfluous pain ;
My father there his struggling sighs suppress'd,
And in dumb anguish clasp'd me to his breast ;
Then sought, conceal'd the conflict of his mind,
To give the fortitude he could not find,
Each life-taught precept kindly he renew'd,
' Thy country's good, said he, he still persu'd!
' If, when the Gods shall here my son restore,
' These eyes shall sleep in death, to wake no more ;
' If then these limbs, that now in age decay,
' Shall mold'ring mix with earth's parental clay ;
' Round my green tomb perform the sacred rite,
' Assume my throne, and let thy yoke be light;
' From lands of freedom glorious precepts bring,
' And reign at once a father and a king.
How vainly proud, the arrogantly great
Presume to boast a monarch's godlike state!
Subject alike, the peasant and the king,
To life's dark ills, and care's corroding sting.
From guilt and fraud, that strikes in silence sure,
No shield can guard us, and no arms secure.
By these, my fair, subdu'd , thy prince was lost,
A naked captive on a barb'rous coast.
Nurtur'd in ease, a thousand servants round,
My wants prevented, and my wishes crown'd ;
No painful labours stretch'd the tedious day,
On downy feet my moment danc'd away.
Whene'er I look'd, officious courtiers bow'd,
Wher'er I pass'd, a shouting people crowd;
No fears intruded on the joys I knew,
Each man, my friend, my lovely mistress you.
What dreadful change! abandon'd and alone,
The shouted prince is now a slave unknown ;
To watch his eye, no bending courtiers wait,
No hailing crowds proclaim his regal state ;
A slave, condemn'd with unrewarded toil,
To turn, from more to eve, a burning soil.
Fainting beneath the Sun's meridian heat,
Rouz'd by the scourge, the taunting jest I meet:
Thanks to thy friends, they cry, whose care recalls
A prince to life, in whom a nation falls !
Unwholsome scraps my strengths but half sustain'd,
From corner's glean'd, and ev'n by dogs disdain'd ;
At night I mingled with a wretched crew,
Who by long use with woe familiar grew;
Of manners brutish, merciless and rude,
They mock'd my suff'rings and my pangs renew'd;
In groans, not sleep, I pass'd the weary night,
And rose to labour with the morning light.
Yet, thus of dignity land ease beguil'd,
Thus scorn'd and scourg'd, insulted and revil'd,
If heav'n with thee my faithful arms had bles'd,
And fill'd with love my intervals of rest,
Short tho' they were, my soul had never known.
One secret wish to glitter on a throne ;
The toilsome day had heard no sigh of mine,
Nor stripes, nor scorn, had urg'd me to repine.
A monarch still, beyond, a monarch blest;
Thy love my diadem, my throne thy breast ;
My courtiers, watchful of my looks, thy eyes,
Shou'd shine, persuade, arid flatter, and advise ;
Ah ! not the prison of a slave in me !
Cou'd I with infamy content remain,
And wish thy lovely form to share my chain ?
And let the love, that sinn'd, atone the fault.
Cou'd I, a slave, and hopeless to be free,
Crawl, tamely recent from the scourge, to thee?
Thy blooming beauties cou'd these arms embrace?
My guilty joys, enslave an infant race?
No : rather blast me lightnings, whirlwinds tear,
And drive these limbs in atoms thro' the air ;
Rather than this, O ! Curse nme still with life,
And let my ZARA, smile a rival's wife:
Be mine alone th' accumulated woe,
Nor let me propagate my curse below,
BUT, from this dreadful scene, with joy, I turn,
To trust in heav'n, of me, let ZARA learn.
The wretch, the sordid hypocrite, that sold
His charge, an unsuspecting prince, for gold,
That justice mark'd, whose eyes can never sleep,
And death, commission'd, smote him on the deep.
The gen'rous crew their port in safety gain,
And tell my mournful tale, nor tell in vain ;
The king, with horror of th' atrocious deed,
In haste commanded, and the slave was free'd.
No more BRITTANIA'S cheek, the blush of shame
Burns for my wrongs, her king restores her fame :
Propitious gales, to freedom's happy shore,
Wast me triumphant, and the prince restore;
Whate'er is great and gay around me shine,
And all the splendor of a court is mine.
And knowledge here, by piety refin'd,
Sheds a blest radiance o'er my bright'ning mind ;
From earth I travel upward to the sky ,
I learn to live, to reign, yet more, to die.
O ! I have tales to tell, of love divine -
Such blissful tidings ! they shall soon be thine.
I long to tell thee, what amaz'd, I see,
What habits, buildings, trades, and polity;
How art and nature vye to entertain,
In public shows, and mix delight with pain.
O ! ZARA, & here, a story like my own,
With mimic skill, in borrow'd names, was shown ;
An Indian chief, like me, by fraud betray'd,
And partner in his woes, an Indian maid.
I can't recall the scene, 'tis pain too great,
And, if recall'd should shudder to relate.
To write the wonders here, I strive in vain ;
Each word wou'd ask a thousand to explain.
The time shall come, O! speed the ling'ring hour!
When ZARA's charms shall lend description pow'r;
When plac'd beside thee, in the cool alcove,
Or through the green Savannah as we rove,
The frequent kiss shall interrupt the tale,
And looks shall speak my sense, tho' language fail.
Then shall the prodigies, that round me rise,
Fill thy dear bosom with a sweet surprize;
Then all my knowledge, to thy faithful heart,
With danger gain'd, securely I'll impart.
Methinks I see thy charming looks express
Th' alternate sense of pleasure and distress ;
As all the windings of my fate I trace,
And wing thy fancy swift from place to place.
Yet where, alas! has flatt'ring thoughts convey'd
The ravish'd lover, with his darling maid?
Between us, still, unmeasur'd main,
And hostile barks infest, and storms controul.
Be calm my bosom, since th' unmeasur'd main,
And hostile barks, and storms, are God's domain :
He rules resistless, and his pow'r shall guide
My life in safety o'er the roaring tide ;
Shall bless the love, that's built on virtue's base,
And spare me to evangelize my race.
Farewel! thy prince still lives, and still is free:
Farewel! hope all things, and remember Me.