ELEGY

ON

CAPTAIN COOK.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

An Ode to the Sun.

BY

MISS SEWARD.

THE THIRD EDITION.

AN

ELEGY

ON

CAPTAIN COOK.

SORROWING, the Nine beneath yon blasted Shed the bright drops of Pity's holy dew; [yew Mute are their tuneful tongues, extinct their

fires;

Yet not in silence sleep their silver lyres ;
To the bleak gale they vibrate sad and slow,
In deep accordance to a nation's woe.

Ye, who ere while for Cook's illustrious brow Pluck'd the green laurel, and the oaken bough,

Hung the gay garlands on the trophied oars, And pour'd his fame along a thousand shores, Strike the slow death-bell!-weave the sacred

verse,

And strew the cypress o'er his honor'd hearse;
In sad procession wander round the shrine,
And weep him mortal, whom ye sung divine!

Say first, what Pow'r inspir'd his dauntless breast

With scorn of danger, and inglorious rest,
To quit imperial London's gorgeous plains,
Where, rob'd in thousand tints, bright Pleasure
reigns;

In cups of summer-ice her nectar pours, [bow'rs?
And twines, 'mid wint'ry snows, her roseate
Where beauty moves with undulating grace,
Calls the sweet blush to wanton o'er her face,
On each fond youth her soft artillery tries,
Aims her light smile, and rolls her frolic eyes?

What Pow'r inspired his dauntless breast to

brave

The scorch'd Equator, and th' Antarctic wave? Climes, where fierce suns in cloudless ardors shine,

And pour the dazzling deluge round the line; The realms of frost, where icy mountains

rise,

'Mid the pale summer of the polar skies?—
IT WAS HUMANITY!-on coasts unknown,
The shiv'ring natives of the frozen zone,
And the swart Indian, as he faintly strays
"Where Cancer reddens in the solar blaze,"
She bade him seek ;-on each inclement shore
Plant the rich seeds of her exhaustless store;
Unite the savage hearts and hostile hands,
In the firm compact of her gentle bands,
Strew her soft comforts o'er the barren plain,
Sing her sweet lays, and consecrate her fane.