Song 1
OH! bear me to the groves of palm,
Where perfum’d airs diffuse their balm!
And when the noon-tide beams invade,
Then lay me in the embow’ring shade;
Where Bananas o’er my head,
Mingling with the Tam’rind spread;
Where the long liannes combining,
Wild festoons of flow’rs entwining;
Fragrant cassia, softly blowing,
Lime and orange, ever glowing;
All their spicy breath exhale,
To scent the pleasure-fanning gale.
There her sweet ambrosial stores,
Nature in profusion pours;
The cocoa’s nectar let me sip,
The citron’s juice refresh my lip;
While around me hovering play
Birds, in radiant plumage gay;
And amidst the foliage, raise
Melodies, in varied lays.
There, in aromatic bow’rs,
Be mine to pass the summer-hours;
Or by some clear cascade reclin’d;
Whose dashing sound may lull the mind,
Wake the lyre and tune the song,
Scenes of paradise among!
