TO A YOUNG LADY,
ON HER BIRTH DAY.

    May every sun that wakes the morning skies
On thee in health, and peace, and safety rise;
And as he sinks in glory in the West,
Still leave thee happy and supremely blest.
Oh, may thy gentle bosom never know

Affliction’s anguish, or the weight of woe,
Far from thy breast be banished every care,
Nor find one spot to fix his dwelling there.
May every joy that fortune’s favors bring,
The hopes that blossom like young flow’rs in spring, [Page 131]

Affection’s tear, and sympathy be thine,
And the sweet thoughts that bloom on virtue’s shrine.
May no sad feelings give thy bosom pain,
Or doubts of good a moment there remain;
Each wish be thine, and may no fears impart

A transient pang to wound thy tender heart.
But crowned with every blessing Heaven can send,
By all befriended, and to all a friend,
May all thy days in cheerfulness be passed,
And every year prove happier than the last.

Oh, more than all, may he whose sovereign power
Protects thy life in every trying hour,
Direct thy steps and guide thy youthful mind,
That narrow way that ends in bliss to find.
Then when thy youth is passed, and age comes on,

And, one by one, thy fleeting years are gone,
Ere thy last sigh is drawn, and ere thy breath
Resigns its spirit to the victor Death,
Oh may’st thou know, may some foretaste be given
That all thy hopes may find a rest in Heaven. [Page 132]