Page:Halleck.djvu/247

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ODE TO GOOD-HUMOR.

Maid of the sweet, engaging smile!
Companion of our hours of peace!
Whose soothing arts can care beguile,
And bid discordant passions cease;
Virtue in thee her favorite hails,
And dwells where’er thy sway prevails,
Life’s fairest charms to thee we owe,
The source of pure delight, the healing balm of woe!

Can rapture thrill congenial hearts,
Entwined by Friendship’s wreath divine?
If aught of bliss its bond imparts,
The praise, enchanting maid! be thine.
Can we a soft attractive grace
In the bright beam of Beauty trace?
’Tis only when with thee combined,
Her powers can justly claim the homage of the mind!

When the first pair in Eden’s bower
Enjoyed the favoring smile of Heaven,
Thy influence brightened every flower,
And blessed the balmy breeze of even.
And since in Love’s connubial ties,
We best can learn thy sweets to prize,