Page:Scotish Descriptive Poems - Leyden (1803).djvu/163
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TO GENERAL WADE,
Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Forces in North
Britain.
Howe'er important in the high debate;Where Britain's councils watch o'er Europe's fate;From public cares, one easy moment spare,And let a muse the kind indulgence share.True, that in lonely groves she tuned the lay,Far from the great, the giddy and the gay;By power unawed, by venal views unswayed,No foe she flattered, and no friend betrayed:Yet shall her note each generous bosom move,Where throbs a pang for virtue, fame, or love; 10Since deep-felt passion strikes the tuneful strings,And nature whispers what the poet sings. Nought, nought, for this exalting suns avail,The cloudless ether, or the spicy gale,