Poems on Several Occasions :: :: University of Virginia Library

Warm'd with thy Verse, which Liberty inspires,
Which Nature forms and sacred Reason fires,
I pour a tributary Lay. Receive
The honest Praise a Friend may dare to give.

Most of our Poets chuse their early Theme
A flow'ry Meadow, or a purling Stream.
Thy Genius took a flight above the Groves,
The Pipe neglected and the Rural Loves;
To God-like Newton's Praises swell'd thy Lyre,
Play'd with the Light and grasp'd æthereal Fire.
So the Young Lyrick-Lark, on trembling Wings
O'er Meadows warbles, and to Shepherds sings,
The youthful Eagle, born to nobler Sway,
Enjoys the Sun, and boldly faces Day.

Next brave Leonidas, with Virtue warm'd,
The Child of Heav'n and Thee! our Wonder charm'd:

Our Wonder and our Silence best can tell
How much He lov'd his Greece, how great He fell.
His Arm how dreadful, how compos'd his Mien!
Fierce as a God, and as a God serene.
Horrid with Gold, and formidably bright
He lightens and He thunders through the Fight;
With bleeding Hills He heaps the groaning Plain,
And crimson Torrents mingle with the Main.
At last, collecting all his Patriot-Fires,
In the full Blaze of Liberty expires.

If blest Immortals bend their Thoughts below,
(And Verse like thine may list'ning Angels draw.)
What new-felt Raptures through the Hero roul,
To find his Deeds immortal as his Soul!
To shine above each Patriot's honour'd Name,
Thron'd in Thy Verse, the Temple of his Fame!
Rich as the Pillars which support the Skies,
And bright with Wit as Heav'n with Starry Dies:
As Virtue, firm; as Liberty, sublime;
A Monument to mock the Rage of Time.

Did Homer, say, thy glowing Breast inspire
To sing the Spartan with Athenian Fire?
Or Homer's Self revives again in Thee:
For Grecian Chiefs and Grecian Wit I see.—
His mighty Spirit all thy Genius guides,
And o'er thy Bosom roll his golden Tides.

Blest is thy Fancy which durst first despise
Gods in Machines and Bullies from the Skies.
Nor Ariosto's Fables fill thy Page
Nor Tasso's Points, but Virgil's sober Rage.
Pure-temper'd Fires an equal Light maintain,
To warm the Reason, not to scorch the Brain.
How soft, how strong thy varied Numbers move,
Or swell'd to Glory, or dissolv'd to Love.
Correct with Ease, where all the Graces meet,
Nervously plain, majestically sweet.
The Muses well thy Sacrifice repay
Attendant warbling in each heavenly Lay!

When Ariana grasps th' abhorred Dart,
Each Lover bleeds and feels it in his Heart.

Ah faithful Pair! by Misery improv'd:
Who wou'd not die to love as you have lov'd?
Like Teribazus gladly I cou'd die
To draw one tear from dear Ianthe's Eye.
One Sigh of Hers wou'd recompence my Breath,
Wou'd sweeten Pain, and sanctify my Death.
O might I, while her Eyes inflict the Wound,
Or her soft Lute dissolves a plaintive Sound,
Might I, while She inhales my latest Breath,
Sink from her Arms into the Arms of Death!
Then rise, (so pure a Wish may be forgiven.)
O sweet Transition, from her Breast to Heav'n!

Forgive this fond Excursion of my Woe;
Forgive these Tears, that will, rebellious, flow;
Forgive these Sighs, that will, unbidden, rise,
Till Death for ever close her from my Eyes.
But thou, blest Youth, may thou for ever know
The chaste Endearment, and parental Glow:
The still, the sacred, the melodious Hour,
The Morning-Closet, and the Ev'ning-Bow'r.

There, when thy Muse shall let her Eagle fly,
And nobly lift a Mortal to the Sky,
When all th' inspiring God dilates thy Soul,
And quick Ideas kindle as they roll,
Let British Valour thy brave Care engage,
With British Valour fire the glorious Page.
Bid Henry's Honours in thy Poem glow,
On Edward Immortality bestow.
Let Agin-Court, let Cressy's well-fought Plain
Run purple in thy Lines and bleed again;
Britannia then, no more Her Sons shall mourn,
Extinct, forgotten in the silent Urn:
Born on the Wings of Verse their Names shall rise,
Dear to the Earth and grateful to the Skies.
Hail, Poetry! whose Life-infusing Lays
Bid Time roll back aud sleeping Atoms raise;
Dust into Being wake, expand the Tomb,
Dead Glory quicken, and restore lost Bloom:
As God, from Mortals heighten to Divine,
And give Us through Eternity to shine!

Glover! thy Mind, in various Virtue wise,
Each Science claims, and makes each Art thy Prize.
With Newton soars, familiar to the Sky,
Looks Nature through, so keen thy mental Eye,
Or down descending on the Globe below,
Through humbler Realms of Knowledge loves to flow.
Promiscuous Beauties dignify thy Breast,
By Nature happy, as by Study blest,
Thou, Wit's Columbus! from the Epick-Throne
New Worlds descry'd, and made Them all our own:
Thou first through real Nature dar'd explore,
And waft her sacred Treasures to our Shore.

The Merchant thus, by Heav'nly Wisdom led,
(Each Kingdom noted, and Each Law survey'd.)
On Britain pours whate're can serve Mankind,
Adorn the Body, or delight the Mind.
Spices which blow'd in Araby the blest,
And breath'd a Paradise around the East.
Unclouded Sapphires show their azure Sky,
Em'ralds with smiling Green refresh the Eye:

Here bleeds the Ruby, Diamonds sparkle there,
To tremble on the Bosoms of our Fair.
Yet shou'd the Sun with ten-fold Lustre shine,
Exalt with deeper Dies the flaming Mine,
Shou'd softer Breezes and more genial Skies
Bid sweeter Spice, in blooming Order, rise,
Nor Gems, nor Spice cou'd Nature know to name,
Bright as thy Wit, or fragrant as thy Fame.