I linger oft beneath thy ray

I linger oft beneath thy ray,
Young Queen of Heaven! at day's decline,
And muse on pleasures past away,
And happier hours, which once were mine.
How beautiful thy smiles of light,
O'er the still breast of ocean thrown,
When thou pursu'st, all calmly bright,
Thy clear, and silvery path alone !
When the low night-winds gently sweep
The flowers' fresh bloom in passing by,
And thy soft beams in lustre steep
Our vales, reposing peacefully,-
I love to mark thee, moving on
Amidst yon far-off bowers of blue,
While ev'ry scene thou shin'st upon,
Shows lovlier in its moonlight hue !
Thine are the sweet, and lonely hours
With holiest hope, and feeling fraught,
And thine the tranquillizing pow'rs
Which still subdue each stormier thought,
My spirit owns thy mild controul
When earthly ills around me press;
Or darkly gather o'er my soul
The mists of human wretchedness!