The works, in verse and prose, of William Shenstone, Esq In two volumes. With Decorations. The fourth edition |
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 | The works, in verse and prose, of William Shenstone, Esq |  |
1. PART the FIRST.
To you, ye bards! whose lavish breast requires
This monitory lay, the strains belong;
Nor think some miser vents his sapient saw,
Or some dull cit unfeeling of the charms
That tempt profusion, sings; while friendly zeal,
To guard from fatal ills the tribe he loves,
Inspires the meanest of the muse's train!
Like you I loath the groveling progeny,
Whose wily arts, by creeping time matur'd,
Advance them high on pow'r's tyrannic throne:
To lord it there in gorgeous uselessness,
And spurn successless worth that pines below!
This monitory lay, the strains belong;
Nor think some miser vents his sapient saw,
Or some dull cit unfeeling of the charms
That tempt profusion, sings; while friendly zeal,
To guard from fatal ills the tribe he loves,
Inspires the meanest of the muse's train!
Like you I loath the groveling progeny,
Whose wily arts, by creeping time matur'd,
Advance them high on pow'r's tyrannic throne:
To lord it there in gorgeous uselessness,
And spurn successless worth that pines below!
See the rich churl, amid the social sons
Of wine and wit, regaling! hark he joins
In the free jest delighted! seems to shew
A meliorated heart! he laughs! he sings!
Songs of gay import, madrigals of glee,
And drunken anthems set agape the board.
Like Demea, in the play, benign and mild,
And pouring forth benevolence of soul,
'Till Micio wonders: or, in Shakespear's line,
Obstrep'rous Silence; drowning Shallow's voice,
And startling Falstaff, and his mad compeers.
Of wine and wit, regaling! hark he joins
In the free jest delighted! seems to shew
A meliorated heart! he laughs! he sings!
Songs of gay import, madrigals of glee,
273
Like Demea, in the play, benign and mild,
And pouring forth benevolence of soul,
'Till Micio wonders: or, in Shakespear's line,
Obstrep'rous Silence; drowning Shallow's voice,
And startling Falstaff, and his mad compeers.
He owns 'tis prudence, ever and anon,
To smooth his careful brow; to let his purse
Ope to a sixpence's diameter!
He likes our ways; he owns the ways of wit
Are ways of pleasaunce, and deserve regard.
True, we are dainty good society,
But what art thou? alas! consider well,
Thou bane of social pleasure, know thyself.
Thy fell approach, like some invasive damp
Breath'd thro' the pores of earth from Stygian caves,
Destroy the lamp of mirth; the lamp which we
Its flamens boast to guard: we know not how,
But at thy sight the fading flame assumes
A ghastly blue, and in a stench expires.
To smooth his careful brow; to let his purse
Ope to a sixpence's diameter!
He likes our ways; he owns the ways of wit
Are ways of pleasaunce, and deserve regard.
True, we are dainty good society,
But what art thou? alas! consider well,
Thou bane of social pleasure, know thyself.
Thy fell approach, like some invasive damp
Breath'd thro' the pores of earth from Stygian caves,
Destroy the lamp of mirth; the lamp which we
Its flamens boast to guard: we know not how,
But at thy sight the fading flame assumes
A ghastly blue, and in a stench expires.
True, thou seem'st chang'd; all sainted, all ensky'd
The trembling tears that charge thy melting eyes
Say thou art honest; and of gentle kind,
But all is false! an intermitting sigh,
Condemns each hour, each moment giv'n to smiles,
And deems those only lost, thou dost not lose.
Ev'n for a demi-groat, this open'd soul,
This boon companion, this elastic breast
Revibrates quick; and sends the tuneful tongue
To lavish music on the rugged walls
Of some dark dungeon. Hence thou caitiff, fly!
Touch not my glass, nor drain my sacred bowl,
Monster, ingrate! beneath one common sky
Why shoud'st thou breathe; beneath one common roof
Thou ne'er shalt harbour; nor my little boat
Receive a soul with crimes to press it down.
Go to thy bags, thou recreant! hourly go,
And gazing there, bid them be wit, be mirth,
Be conversation. Not a face that smiles
Admit thy presence! not a soul that glows
With social purport, bid or ev'n or morn
Invest thee happy! but when life declines,
May thy sure heirs stand titt'ring round thy bed,
And ush'ring in their fav'rites, burst thy locks,
And fill their laps with gold; 'till want and care
With joy depart, and cry, “We ask no more.”
The trembling tears that charge thy melting eyes
Say thou art honest; and of gentle kind,
But all is false! an intermitting sigh,
Condemns each hour, each moment giv'n to smiles,
And deems those only lost, thou dost not lose.
Ev'n for a demi-groat, this open'd soul,
This boon companion, this elastic breast
Revibrates quick; and sends the tuneful tongue
274
Of some dark dungeon. Hence thou caitiff, fly!
Touch not my glass, nor drain my sacred bowl,
Monster, ingrate! beneath one common sky
Why shoud'st thou breathe; beneath one common roof
Thou ne'er shalt harbour; nor my little boat
Receive a soul with crimes to press it down.
Go to thy bags, thou recreant! hourly go,
And gazing there, bid them be wit, be mirth,
Be conversation. Not a face that smiles
Admit thy presence! not a soul that glows
With social purport, bid or ev'n or morn
Invest thee happy! but when life declines,
May thy sure heirs stand titt'ring round thy bed,
And ush'ring in their fav'rites, burst thy locks,
And fill their laps with gold; 'till want and care
With joy depart, and cry, “We ask no more.”
Ah never never may th'harmonious mind
Endure the worldly! poets ever void
Of guile, distrustless, scorn the treasur'd gold,
And spurn the miser, spurn his deity.
Ballanc'd with friendship, in the poet's eye
The rival scale of interest kicks the beam,
Than lightning swifter. From his cavern'd store
The sordid soul, with self-applause, remarks
The kind propensity; remarks and smiles,
And hies with impious haste to spread the snare.
Him we deride, and in our comic scenes
Contemn the niggard form Moliere has drawn.
We loath with justice; but alas the pain
To bow the knee before this calf of gold;
Implore his envious aid, and meet his frown!
Endure the worldly! poets ever void
Of guile, distrustless, scorn the treasur'd gold,
And spurn the miser, spurn his deity.
Ballanc'd with friendship, in the poet's eye
The rival scale of interest kicks the beam,
Than lightning swifter. From his cavern'd store
The sordid soul, with self-applause, remarks
The kind propensity; remarks and smiles,
And hies with impious haste to spread the snare.
Him we deride, and in our comic scenes
Contemn the niggard form Moliere has drawn.
We loath with justice; but alas the pain
275
Implore his envious aid, and meet his frown!
But 'tis not Gomez, 'tis not he whose heart
Is crusted o'er with dross, whose callous mind
Is senseless as his gold, the slighted muse
Intensely loaths. 'Tis sure no equal task
To pardon him, who lavishes his wealth
On racer, fox-hound, hawk or spaniel, all
But human merit; who with gold essays
All, but the noblest pleasure, to remove
The wants of genius, and its smiles enjoy.
Is crusted o'er with dross, whose callous mind
Is senseless as his gold, the slighted muse
Intensely loaths. 'Tis sure no equal task
To pardon him, who lavishes his wealth
On racer, fox-hound, hawk or spaniel, all
But human merit; who with gold essays
All, but the noblest pleasure, to remove
The wants of genius, and its smiles enjoy.
But you, ye titled youths! whose nobler zeal
Would burnish o'er your coronets with fame;
Who listen pleas'd when poet tunes his lay;
Permit him not, in distant solitudes,
To pine, to languish out the fleeting hours
Of active youth! then virtue pants for praise,
That season unadorn'd, the careless bard
Quits your worn threshold, and like honest Gay
Contemns the niggard boon ye time so ill.
Your favours then, like trophies giv'n the tomb,
Th'enfranchis'd spirit soaring not perceives,
Or scorns perceiv'd; and execrates the smile
Which bade his vig'rous bloom, to treacherous hopes
And servile cares a prey, expire in vain!—
Would burnish o'er your coronets with fame;
Who listen pleas'd when poet tunes his lay;
Permit him not, in distant solitudes,
To pine, to languish out the fleeting hours
Of active youth! then virtue pants for praise,
That season unadorn'd, the careless bard
Quits your worn threshold, and like honest Gay
Contemns the niggard boon ye time so ill.
Your favours then, like trophies giv'n the tomb,
Th'enfranchis'd spirit soaring not perceives,
Or scorns perceiv'd; and execrates the smile
Which bade his vig'rous bloom, to treacherous hopes
And servile cares a prey, expire in vain!—
Two lawless pow'rs, engag'd by mutual hate
In endless war, beneath their flags enroll
The vassal world. This avarice is nam'd,
That luxury; 'tis true their partial friends
Assign them softer names; usurpers both!
That share by dint of arms the legal throne
Of just œconomy; yet both betray'd
By fraudful ministers. The niggard chief
List'ning to want, all faithless, and prepar'd
To join each moment in his rival's train,
His conduct models by the needless fears
The slave inspires; while luxury, a chief
Of amplest faith, to plenty's rule resigns
His whole campaign. 'Tis plenty's flatt'ring sounds
Engross his ear; 'tis plenty's smiling form
Moves still before his eyes. Discretion strives,
But strives in vain to banish from the throne
The perjur'd minion. He, secure of trust,
With latent malice to the hostile camp
Day, night, and hour, his monarch's wealth conveys.
In endless war, beneath their flags enroll
The vassal world. This avarice is nam'd,
That luxury; 'tis true their partial friends
Assign them softer names; usurpers both!
276
Of just œconomy; yet both betray'd
By fraudful ministers. The niggard chief
List'ning to want, all faithless, and prepar'd
To join each moment in his rival's train,
His conduct models by the needless fears
The slave inspires; while luxury, a chief
Of amplest faith, to plenty's rule resigns
His whole campaign. 'Tis plenty's flatt'ring sounds
Engross his ear; 'tis plenty's smiling form
Moves still before his eyes. Discretion strives,
But strives in vain to banish from the throne
The perjur'd minion. He, secure of trust,
With latent malice to the hostile camp
Day, night, and hour, his monarch's wealth conveys.
Ye tow'ring minds! ye sublimated souls!
Who careless of your fortunes, seal and sign,
Set, let, contract, acquit, with easier mien
Than fops take snuff! whose œconomic care
Your green-silk purse engrosses! easy, pleas'd,
To see gold sparkle thro' the subtle folds;
Lovely, as when th'Hesperian fruitage smil'd
Amid the verd'rous grove! who fondly hope
Spontaneous harvests! harvests all the year!
Who scatter wealth, as tho' the radiant crop
Glitter'd on ev'ry bough; and ev'ry bough
Like that the Trojan gather'd, once avuls'd
Were by a splendid successor supply'd
Instant, spontaneous! listen to my lays.
For 'tis not fools, whate'er proverbial phrase
Have long decreed, that quit with greatest ease
The treasur'd gold. Of words indeed profuse,
Of gold tenacious, their torpescent soul
Clenches their coin, and what electral fire
Shall solve the frosty gripe, and bid it flow?
'Tis genius, fancy, that to wild expence
Of health! of treasure! stimulates the soul:
These, with officious care, and fatal art,
Improve the vinous flavour; these the smile
Of Cloe soften; these the glare of dress
Illume; the glitt'ring chariot gild anew,
And add strange wisdom to the furs of pow'r.
Who careless of your fortunes, seal and sign,
Set, let, contract, acquit, with easier mien
Than fops take snuff! whose œconomic care
Your green-silk purse engrosses! easy, pleas'd,
To see gold sparkle thro' the subtle folds;
Lovely, as when th'Hesperian fruitage smil'd
Amid the verd'rous grove! who fondly hope
Spontaneous harvests! harvests all the year!
Who scatter wealth, as tho' the radiant crop
Glitter'd on ev'ry bough; and ev'ry bough
Like that the Trojan gather'd, once avuls'd
Were by a splendid successor supply'd
Instant, spontaneous! listen to my lays.
For 'tis not fools, whate'er proverbial phrase
277
The treasur'd gold. Of words indeed profuse,
Of gold tenacious, their torpescent soul
Clenches their coin, and what electral fire
Shall solve the frosty gripe, and bid it flow?
'Tis genius, fancy, that to wild expence
Of health! of treasure! stimulates the soul:
These, with officious care, and fatal art,
Improve the vinous flavour; these the smile
Of Cloe soften; these the glare of dress
Illume; the glitt'ring chariot gild anew,
And add strange wisdom to the furs of pow'r.
Alas! that he, amid the race of men,
That he, who thinks of purest gold with scorn,
Shou'd with unsated appetite demand;
And vainly court the pleasure it procures!
When fancy's vivid spark impels the soul
To scorn quotidian scenes, to spurn the bliss
Of vulgar minds, what nostrum shall compose
Its fatal tension? in what lonely vale
Of balmy med'cine's various field, aspires
The blest refrigerant? Vain, ah vain the hope
Of future peace, this orgasm uncontroul'd!
Impatient, hence, of all, the frugal mind
Requires; to eat, to drink, to sleep, to fill
A chest with gold, the sprightly breast demands
Incessant rapture; life, a tedious load
Deny'd its continuity of joy.
But whence obtain? philosophy requires
No lavish cost; to crown its utmost pray'r
Suffice the root-built-cell, the simple fleece,
The juicy viand, and the crystal stream.
Ev'n mild stupidity rewards her train
With cheap contentment. Taste alone requires
Entire profusion! Days and nights, and hours
Thy voice, hydropic fancy! calls aloud
For costly draughts, inundant bowls of joy,
Rivers of rich regalement! seas of bliss!
Seas without shore! infinity of sweets!
That he, who thinks of purest gold with scorn,
Shou'd with unsated appetite demand;
And vainly court the pleasure it procures!
When fancy's vivid spark impels the soul
To scorn quotidian scenes, to spurn the bliss
Of vulgar minds, what nostrum shall compose
Its fatal tension? in what lonely vale
Of balmy med'cine's various field, aspires
The blest refrigerant? Vain, ah vain the hope
Of future peace, this orgasm uncontroul'd!
Impatient, hence, of all, the frugal mind
Requires; to eat, to drink, to sleep, to fill
A chest with gold, the sprightly breast demands
Incessant rapture; life, a tedious load
Deny'd its continuity of joy.
But whence obtain? philosophy requires
No lavish cost; to crown its utmost pray'r
278
The juicy viand, and the crystal stream.
Ev'n mild stupidity rewards her train
With cheap contentment. Taste alone requires
Entire profusion! Days and nights, and hours
Thy voice, hydropic fancy! calls aloud
For costly draughts, inundant bowls of joy,
Rivers of rich regalement! seas of bliss!
Seas without shore! infinity of sweets!
And yet, unless sage reason join her hand
In pleasure's purchase, pleasure is unsure:
And yet, unless œconomy's consent
Legitimate expence, some graceless mark,
Some symptom ill-conceal'd, shall, soon or late,
Burst like a pimple from the vicious tide
Of acid blood, proclaiming want's disease,
Amidst the bloom of shew. The scanty stream
Slow-loitering in its channel, seems to vie
With Vaga's depth; but should the sedgy pow'r
Vain-glorious empty his penurious urn
O'er the rough rock, how must his fellow streams
Deride the tinklings of the boastive rill!
In pleasure's purchase, pleasure is unsure:
And yet, unless œconomy's consent
Legitimate expence, some graceless mark,
Some symptom ill-conceal'd, shall, soon or late,
Burst like a pimple from the vicious tide
Of acid blood, proclaiming want's disease,
Amidst the bloom of shew. The scanty stream
Slow-loitering in its channel, seems to vie
With Vaga's depth; but should the sedgy pow'r
Vain-glorious empty his penurious urn
O'er the rough rock, how must his fellow streams
Deride the tinklings of the boastive rill!
I not aspire to mark the dubious path
That leads to wealth, to poets mark'd in vain!
But ere self-flattery soothe the vivid breast
With dreams of fortune near ally'd to fame,
Reflect how few, who charm'd the list'ning ear
Of satrap or of king, her smiles enjoy'd!
Consider well, what meagre arms repay'd
The great Mæonian, sire of tuneful song,
And prototype of all that soar'd sublime,
And left dull cares below; what griefs impell'd
The modest bard of learn'd Eliza's reign
To swell with tears his Mulla's parent stream,
And mourn aloud the pang “to ride, to run,
To spend, to give, to want, to be undone.”
Why shou'd I tell of Cowley's pensive muse
Belov'd in vain? too copious is my theme?
Which of your boasted race might hope reward
Like loyal Butler, when the lib'ral Charles,
The judge of wit, perus'd the sprightly page
Triumphant o'er his foes? Believe not hope,
The poet's parasite; but learn alone
To spare the scanty boon the fates decree.
Poet and rich! 'tis solecism extreme!
'Tis heighten'd contradiction! in his frame,
In ev'ry nerve and fibre of his soul,
The latent seeds and principles of want
Has nature wove; and fate confirm'd the clue.
That leads to wealth, to poets mark'd in vain!
But ere self-flattery soothe the vivid breast
With dreams of fortune near ally'd to fame,
Reflect how few, who charm'd the list'ning ear
Of satrap or of king, her smiles enjoy'd!
Consider well, what meagre arms repay'd
The great Mæonian, sire of tuneful song,
279
And left dull cares below; what griefs impell'd
The modest bard of learn'd Eliza's reign
To swell with tears his Mulla's parent stream,
And mourn aloud the pang “to ride, to run,
To spend, to give, to want, to be undone.”
Why shou'd I tell of Cowley's pensive muse
Belov'd in vain? too copious is my theme?
Which of your boasted race might hope reward
Like loyal Butler, when the lib'ral Charles,
The judge of wit, perus'd the sprightly page
Triumphant o'er his foes? Believe not hope,
The poet's parasite; but learn alone
To spare the scanty boon the fates decree.
Poet and rich! 'tis solecism extreme!
'Tis heighten'd contradiction! in his frame,
In ev'ry nerve and fibre of his soul,
The latent seeds and principles of want
Has nature wove; and fate confirm'd the clue.
Nor yet despair to shun the ruder gripe
Of penury; with nice precision learn
A dollar's value. Foremost in the page
That marks th'expence of each revolving year,
Place inattention. When the lust of praise,
Or honour's false idea, tempts thy soul
To slight frugality, assure thine heart
That danger's near. This perishable coin
Is no vain ore. It is thy liberty,
It fetters misers, but it must alone
Enfranchise thee. The world, the cit-like world
Bids thee beware; thy little craft essay;
Nor, pidling with a tea-spoon's slender form,
See with soup-ladles devils gourmandize.
Of penury; with nice precision learn
A dollar's value. Foremost in the page
That marks th'expence of each revolving year,
Place inattention. When the lust of praise,
Or honour's false idea, tempts thy soul
To slight frugality, assure thine heart
That danger's near. This perishable coin
Is no vain ore. It is thy liberty,
It fetters misers, but it must alone
Enfranchise thee. The world, the cit-like world
280
Nor, pidling with a tea-spoon's slender form,
See with soup-ladles devils gourmandize.
Œconomy! thou good old-aunt! whose mien
Furrow'd with age and care the wise adore,
The wits contemn! reserving still thy stores
To chear thy friends at last! why with the cit,
Or bookless churl, with each ignoble name,
Each earthly nature, deign'st thou to reside?
And shunning all, who by thy favours crown'd
Might glad the world, to seek some vulgar mind
Inspiring pride, and selfish shapes of ill?
Furrow'd with age and care the wise adore,
The wits contemn! reserving still thy stores
To chear thy friends at last! why with the cit,
Or bookless churl, with each ignoble name,
Each earthly nature, deign'st thou to reside?
And shunning all, who by thy favours crown'd
Might glad the world, to seek some vulgar mind
Inspiring pride, and selfish shapes of ill?
Why with the old, infirm, and impotent,
And childless, love to dwell, yet leave the breast
Of youth, unwarn'd, unguided, uninform'd?
Of youth, to whom thy monitory voice
Were doubly kind? for sure to youthful eyes,
(How short soe'er it prove) the road of life
Appears protracted; fair on either side
The loves, the graces play, on fortune's child
Profusely smiling; well might youth essay
The frugal plan, the lucrative employ,
Source of their favour all the live-long day,
But fate assents not. Age alone contracts
His meagre palm, to clench the tempting bane
Of all his peace, the glitt'ring seeds of care!
And childless, love to dwell, yet leave the breast
Of youth, unwarn'd, unguided, uninform'd?
Of youth, to whom thy monitory voice
Were doubly kind? for sure to youthful eyes,
(How short soe'er it prove) the road of life
Appears protracted; fair on either side
The loves, the graces play, on fortune's child
Profusely smiling; well might youth essay
The frugal plan, the lucrative employ,
Source of their favour all the live-long day,
But fate assents not. Age alone contracts
His meagre palm, to clench the tempting bane
Of all his peace, the glitt'ring seeds of care!
O that the muse's voice might pierce the ear
Of gen'rous youth! for youth deserves her song,
Youth is fair virtue's season, virtue then
Requires the pruner's hand; the sequent stage,
It barely vegetates; nor long the space
Ere robb'd of warmth its arid trunk display
Fell winter's total reign. O lovely source
Of gen'rous foibles, youth! when op'ning minds
Are honest as the light, lucid as air,
As fost'ring breezes kind, as linnets gay,
Tender as buds, and lavish as the spring!
Yet hapless state of man! his earliest youth
Cozens itself; his age defrauds mankind.
Of gen'rous youth! for youth deserves her song,
Youth is fair virtue's season, virtue then
Requires the pruner's hand; the sequent stage,
281
Ere robb'd of warmth its arid trunk display
Fell winter's total reign. O lovely source
Of gen'rous foibles, youth! when op'ning minds
Are honest as the light, lucid as air,
As fost'ring breezes kind, as linnets gay,
Tender as buds, and lavish as the spring!
Yet hapless state of man! his earliest youth
Cozens itself; his age defrauds mankind.
Nor deem it strange that rolling years abrade
The social biass. Life's extensive page
What does it but unfold repeated proofs
Of gold's omnipotence? With patriots, friends,
Sick'ning beneath its ray, enervate some,
And others dead, whose putrid name exhales
A noisome scent, the bulky volume teems.
With kinsmen, brothers, sons, moist'ning the shroud,
Or honouring the grave, with specious grief
Of short duration; soon in fortune's beams
Alert, and wond'ring at the tears they shed.
The social biass. Life's extensive page
What does it but unfold repeated proofs
Of gold's omnipotence? With patriots, friends,
Sick'ning beneath its ray, enervate some,
And others dead, whose putrid name exhales
A noisome scent, the bulky volume teems.
With kinsmen, brothers, sons, moist'ning the shroud,
Or honouring the grave, with specious grief
Of short duration; soon in fortune's beams
Alert, and wond'ring at the tears they shed.
But who shall save by tame prosaic strain
That glowing breast, where wit with youth conspires
To sweeten luxury? The fearful muse
Shall yet proceed, tho' by the faintest gleam
Of hope inspir'd, to warn the train she loves.
That glowing breast, where wit with youth conspires
To sweeten luxury? The fearful muse
Shall yet proceed, tho' by the faintest gleam
Of hope inspir'd, to warn the train she loves.
| The works, in verse and prose, of William Shenstone, Esq | |