Upon A Young Lady'S Leaving Loudoun Castle.

UPON A YOUNG LADY'S LEAVING LOUDOUN CASTLE.

WHAT means this silent, solitary gloom? All nature in her dishabille appears; Contracted flow'rets yield no sweet perfume, And ev'ry grove a dismal aspect wears.

Nor do the joys of Autumn glad our plains; Our landscapes are in sable weeds array'd; No jocund sound is heard among the swains, And nought but sighs from each dejected maid.

Rude Eurus echoing through the distant woods, With harsh, discordant note, augments our wo; While rains, impetuous, from the bursting clouds, Our verdant walks and pleasure-grounds o'erflow.

Incumber'd by their foliage now, the trees, With leaves, untimely dropp'd, bestrew the ground: Because Matilda's presence does not please, All bleak and dismal seem the fields around.

Her placid looks bespoke a mind serene, Each feature wore an unaffected smile; Her's was the pow'r to beautify the scene, And sweetly gay the languid hours beguile.

Her count'nance milder than an April morn, When Phoebus first emits his infant rays; More radiant beauties do her mind adorn, Than ere were brighten'd by his noon-tide blaze.

Fair Virtue, cloth'd in all it's native sweets, Celestial precepts in her breast inlaid; And oft, as friendly intercourse invites, In softest accents from her lips convey'd.

But now she's gone, a sullen sadness reigns! Absorb'd in grief we still her absence mourn, Or beg that heaven would smile upon our plains, And grant a blessing in her swift return.