The Poetical Works of Anna Seward With Extracts from her Literary Correspondence. Edited by Walter Scott ... In Three Volumes |
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VERSES
TO THE CELEBRATED PAINTER, MR WRIGHT, OF DERBY,
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 | The Poetical Works of Anna Seward |  |
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VERSES TO THE CELEBRATED PAINTER, MR WRIGHT, OF DERBY,
WRITTEN IN 1783.
Thou, in whose breast the gentle virtues shine,
Thou, at whose call th' obsequious graces bow,
Fain would I, kneeling at the Muses' shrine,
Gather the laurel for thy modest brow.
Thou, at whose call th' obsequious graces bow,
Fain would I, kneeling at the Muses' shrine,
Gather the laurel for thy modest brow.
And should in vain my feeble arm extend,
In vain the meed these faltering lays demand,
Should, from my touch, the conscious laurel bend,
Like coy Mimosa, shrinking from the hand,
In vain the meed these faltering lays demand,
Should, from my touch, the conscious laurel bend,
Like coy Mimosa, shrinking from the hand,
Yet thy bright tablet, with unfading hues,
Shall beam on high in honour's envied fane,
By him emblazon'd, whose immortal muse
Adorn'd thy science with her earliest strain;
Shall beam on high in honour's envied fane,
By him emblazon'd, whose immortal muse
Adorn'd thy science with her earliest strain;
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Brought every gem the mines of Knowledge hide,
Cull'd roseate spoils from Fancy's flowery plains,
And with their mingled stores new bands supplied,
That bind the sister Arts in closer chains.
Cull'd roseate spoils from Fancy's flowery plains,
And with their mingled stores new bands supplied,
That bind the sister Arts in closer chains.
What living lights, ingenious Artist, stream,
In mingling mazes as thy pencil roves!
With orient hues in bright expansion beam,
Or bend the flowing curve that beauty loves!
In mingling mazes as thy pencil roves!
With orient hues in bright expansion beam,
Or bend the flowing curve that beauty loves!
Charm'd as we mark, beneath thy magic hand,
What sweet repose surrounds the sombrous scene,
Where, fring'd with wood, yon moon-bright cliffs expand,
The curl'd waves twinkling as they wind between;
What sweet repose surrounds the sombrous scene,
Where, fring'd with wood, yon moon-bright cliffs expand,
The curl'd waves twinkling as they wind between;
Start, as on high thy red Vesuvius glares,
Through Earth and Ocean pours his sanguine light,
With billowy smoke obscures the rising stars,
Or darts his vollied lightnings through the night;
Through Earth and Ocean pours his sanguine light,
With billowy smoke obscures the rising stars,
Or darts his vollied lightnings through the night;
Sigh, where 'mid twilight shades, yon pile sublime,
In cumbrous ruin, nods o'er Virgil's tomb,
Where, nurs'd by thee, poetic ivies climb,
Fresh florets spring, and brighter laurels bloom;
In cumbrous ruin, nods o'er Virgil's tomb,
Where, nurs'd by thee, poetic ivies climb,
Fresh florets spring, and brighter laurels bloom;
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Or weep for Julia, in her sea-girt cave,
Exil'd from love in beauty's splendid morn,
Wild as she gazes on the boundless wave,
And sighs, in hopeless solitude, forlorn.
Exil'd from love in beauty's splendid morn,
Wild as she gazes on the boundless wave,
And sighs, in hopeless solitude, forlorn.
Now, ardent Wright, from thy creative hand,
With outline bold, and mellowest colouring warm,
Rival of life, before the canvas stands
My Father's lov'd and venerable form!
With outline bold, and mellowest colouring warm,
Rival of life, before the canvas stands
My Father's lov'd and venerable form!
O! when his urn shall drink my falling tears,
Thy faithful tints shall shed a bless'd relief,
Glow with mild lustre through my darken'd years,
And gild the gathering shades of filial grief!
Thy faithful tints shall shed a bless'd relief,
Glow with mild lustre through my darken'd years,
And gild the gathering shades of filial grief!
| The Poetical Works of Anna Seward | |