Stanzas

Nymphs and Shepherds hither haste, Here the purest joys we taste; Reason guides our rustic play, Tunes the pipe and forms the lay.

Lovely MIRA is our queen, Guardian of the silvan scene; Nature's charming handmaid, she Thus proclaims her soft decree:

Come ye little smiling train, Cheer with sports my happy plain; Come, while yet the infant year, Proves both smile and sport sincere.

Blooming in the morn of life, Strangers yet to care and strife; Free from art, and free from blame, You can paint me as I am.

What tho' on your baby brows, Mark'd expression faintly glows; Artless look, and native strain, All my feelings best explain.

Soon shall Time, with iron sway, Harden youths' maturer day; Then no longer taught by me, You'll scorn my sweet simplicity.