What dreadful change! abandon'd and alone,
The fhouted prince is now a flave unknown;
To watch his eyè no bending courtiers wait,
No hailing crowds proclaim his regal state;
A flave condemn'd, with unrewarded toil,
To turn, from morn to eve, a burning soil.
Fainting beneath the fun's meridian heat,
Rouz'd by the fcourge, the taunting jeft I meet:

Thanks to thy friends,' they cry, whofe care recalls
A prince to life, in whom a nation falls!'

Unwholesome scraps my ftrength but half sustain'd,
From corners glean'd, and e'en by dogs difdain'd;
At night I mingled with a wretched crew,
Who, by long ufe, with woe familiar grew ;
Of manners brutifh, mercilefs, and rade,
They mock'd my fufferings, and my pangs renew'd:
In groans, not fleep, I pafs'd the weary night,
And rofe to labour with the morning light.

Yet, thus of dignity and ease beguil'd,
Thus fcorn'd and fcourg'd, infulted and revil'd,
If Heav'n with thee my faithful arms had bless'd,
And fill'd with love my intervals of rest,
Short tho' they were, my foul had never known
One fecret wish to glitter on a throne;

The toilfome day had heard no figh of mine,
Nor stripes, nor fcorn, had urg'd me to repine.
A monarch, ftill beyond a monarch blefs'd,
Thy love my diadem, my throne thy breaft;
My courtiers, watchful of my looks, thy eyes,
Should fhine, perfuade, and flatter, and advise;
Thy voice my mufick, and thy arms fhould be---
Ah! not the prison of a slave in me!

Could I with infamy content remain,

And wish thy lovely form to fhare my chain?

Could this bring eafe!. Forgive th' unworthy thought,
And let the love that finn'd atone the fault.

Could

Could I, a flave, and hopeless to be free,
Crawl, tamely recent from the fcourge, to thee?
Thy blooming beauties could these arms embrace ?
My guilty joys enflave an infant race?

No! rather blast me lightnings, whirlwinds tear,
And drive these limbs in atoms thro' the air!
Rather than this, O curse me ftill with life!
And let my Zara fmile a rival's wife!
Be mine alone th' accumulated woe,

Nor let me propagate my curfe below!

But, from this dreadful fcene, with joy I turn:
To truft in Heav'n, of me let Zara learn.
The wretch, the fordid hypocrite, who fold
His charge, an unfufpecting prince, for gold,
That Juftice mark'd, whofe eyes can never fleep,
And death commiffion'd, fmote 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 hafte commanded, and the flave was freed.

No more Britannia's cheek, the blush of fhame,
Burns for my wrongs, her king reftores her fame!
Propitious gales, to Freedom's happy shore
Waft me triumphant, and the prince restore;
Whate'er is great and gay around me shine,
And all the fplendor of a court is mine!
Here Knowledge, too, by piety refin’d,
Sheds a bright 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 fee,
What habits, buildings, trades, and polity!
How art and nature vie to entertain

In publick fhows, and mix delight with pain.

O Zara! here, a story like my own *,

With mimick 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 recal the fcenes, 'tis pain too great;
And, if recall'd, fhould fhudder to relate!

To write the wonders here, I ftrive in vain ;
Each word would ask a thousand to explain.
The time shall come, O fpeed the lingering hour!
When Zara's charms fhall lend description pow'r;"
When plac'd befide thee in the cool alcove,
Or thro' the green favannahs as we rove,''
The frequent kifs fhall interrupt the tale,
And looks shall speak my sense, tho' language fail.
Then fhall the prodigies that round me rife,
Fill thy dear bofom with a sweet surprize;
Then all my knowledge to thy faithful heart,
With danger gain'd, fecurely I'll impart,
Methinks I fee thy changing looks exprefs
Th' alternate fenfe of pleasure and distress;
As all the windings of my fate I trace,
And wing thy fancy fwift from place to place.

Yet where, alas! has flatt'ring thought convey'd
The ravish'd lover with his darling maid ?
Between us ftill unmeafür'd oceans roll,
Which hoftile barks infeft, and ftorms controul.
Be calm, my bofom, fince th' unmeafur'd main,
And hostile barks, and storms, are God's domain
He rules refiftlefs, and his pow'r shall guide
My life in safety o'er the roaring tide;
Shall blefs the love that's built on Virtue's base,
And spare me to evangelize my race.

Farewel thy prince ftill lives, and till is free:
Farewel! hope all things, and remember me.

He alludes to the play of Oroonoko; at which he was prefent, and fo affected as to be unable to continue, during it's performance, in the house.

ZARA,

AT THE COURT OF ANAMABOE, TO THE AFRICAN PRINCE

WHEN IN ENGLAND.

BY THE SAME.

HOULD I the language of my heart conceal,

Nor warmly paint the paffion that I feel;
My rifing wish should groundless fears confine,
And doubts ungen'rous chill the glowing line;
Would not my prince, with nobler warmth, difdain
That love, as languid, which could stoop to feign?
Let guilt diffemble-in my faithful breast
Love reigns unblam'd, and be that love confefs'd.
I give my bofom naked to thy view,

For what has fhame with innocence to do?
In fancy now I clafp thee to my heart,
Exchange my vows, and all my joys impart.
I catch new tranfport from thy fpeaking eye-.
But whence this fad involuntary figh?
Why pants my bofom with intruding fears?
Why from my eyes diftil unbidden tears?
Why do my hands thus tremble as I write?
Why fades thy lov'd idea from my fight?
O art thou fafe on Britain's happy fhore,
From winds that bellow, and from seas that roar?
And has my prince—(oh, more than mortal pain!)
Betray'd by ruffians, felt the captive's chain ?
Bound were thofe limbs, ordain'd alone to prove
The toils of empire, and the sweets of love?
Hold, hold! barbarians of the fiercest kind!
Fear Heav'n's red lightning-'tis a prince ye bind!
A prince whom no indignities could hide,
They knew, prefumptuous! and the gods defy'd..

Where'er

Where'er he moves, let love-join'd reverence rise,
And all mankind behold with Zara's eyes!

Thy breaft alone, when bounding o'er the waves.
To Freedom's climes, from flavery and flaves;
Thy breaft alone the pleafing thought could frame
Of what I felt, when thy dear letters came:
A thousand times I held them to my breast,
A thousand times my lips the paper prefs'd:
My full heart panted with a joy too ftrong,

And Oh, my prince!' dy'd fault'ring on my tongue;
Fainting, I funk, unequal to the ftrife,
And milder joys fuftain'd returning life.
Hope, feet enchantrefs! round my love-fick head
Delightful fcenes of blefs'd delufion spread.

Come, come, my prince! my charmer! hafte away;
• Come, come!' I cry'd, thy Zara blames thy stay.
For thee the fhrubs their richeft fweets retain;
For thee new colours wait to paint the plain;
For thee cool breezes linger in the grove;
The birds expect thee in the green alcove;
• Till thy return, the rills forget to fall,
Till thy return, the fun, the foul of all!-
He comes, my maids, in his meridian charms,
He comes refulgent to his Zara's arms!

• With jocund fongs proclaim my love's return;
With jocund hearts his nuptial bed adorn!
Bright as the fun, yet gentle as the dove,
• He comes, uniting majefty with love!'
Too foon, alas! the blefs'd delusion flies;
Care fwells my breast, and sorrow fills my eyes.
Ah! why do thy fond words fuggeft a fear;
Too vaft, too numerous, thofe already here!
Ah! why with doubts torment my bleeding breast,
Of feas which forms controul, and foes infeft!
My heart, in all this tedious abfence, knows
No thoughts but thofe of feas, and forms, and foes.

Each