Stanzas, by the Author of "Dunluce Castle" [i.e. Edward Quillinan] |
 |
 |
LINES WRITTEN ON THE BAPTISMAL DAY OF JANE GREY BRYDGES,
October 26, 1814. |
 | Stanzas, by the Author of "Dunluce Castle" |  |
12
LINES WRITTEN ON THE BAPTISMAL DAY OF JANE GREY BRYDGES, October 26, 1814.
To snatch the Harp from Fancy's cell,
And bid its fairy wild-notes swell
Through Fiction's flowery way;
Be such the colder Bard's employ,
Who less sincerely welcomes Joy
To this Baptismal Day.
And bid its fairy wild-notes swell
Through Fiction's flowery way;
Be such the colder Bard's employ,
Who less sincerely welcomes Joy
To this Baptismal Day.
Be mine, fair Child, to breathe the prayer
That calls on Heaven's peculiar care
To guide thy walk through life;
And strew with flowers the steps of Time,
And teach Thee all secure to climb
This rude ascent of strife.
That calls on Heaven's peculiar care
To guide thy walk through life;
And strew with flowers the steps of Time,
And teach Thee all secure to climb
This rude ascent of strife.
May Angels lead thy feeble feet,
Till smoothly up to Reason's seat
Thine infancy attain;
To light, array, and form thy youth,
May Genius, Loveliness, and Truth,
In triple lustre reign.
Till smoothly up to Reason's seat
Thine infancy attain;
To light, array, and form thy youth,
May Genius, Loveliness, and Truth,
In triple lustre reign.
13
And These of right may o'er Thee shine,
Along thy Sires' illustrious line,
The link of glory keeping;
For Beauty, Genius, loyal Trust,
Arise to greet Thee, from the dust,
Where noble names lie sleeping.
Along thy Sires' illustrious line,
The link of glory keeping;
For Beauty, Genius, loyal Trust,
Arise to greet Thee, from the dust,
Where noble names lie sleeping.
Scion of Wodvile's ancient stem!
A Wodvile was the brightest gem
On royal Edward's tiar;
Of Wodvile's race was Brandon's Star,
Whose beam of beauty shone afar,
And kindled Europe's fire.
A Wodvile was the brightest gem
On royal Edward's tiar;
Of Wodvile's race was Brandon's Star,
Whose beam of beauty shone afar,
And kindled Europe's fire.
From those fair models may we find
That Nature drew thy form; thy mind
May Grey's high soul imbue;
Like Suffolk's Daughter as in name,
Be Thou in Wit and Worth the same;
But not in Sorrow too.
That Nature drew thy form; thy mind
May Grey's high soul imbue;
Like Suffolk's Daughter as in name,
Be Thou in Wit and Worth the same;
But not in Sorrow too.
14
May thy blue eye's unclouded beam
Be never quench'd in Sorrow's stream,
But still be bliss revealing;
Or, if Thou ever shed a tear,
Be it that drop to Virtue dear,
The tear of tender feeling.
Be never quench'd in Sorrow's stream,
But still be bliss revealing;
Or, if Thou ever shed a tear,
Be it that drop to Virtue dear,
The tear of tender feeling.
Daughter of Wodvile's noble race!
Beneath a Wodvile's form we trace
Bold Genius, clad in arms;
Now Hero of the tilted fray,
Now wooing Learning to display
Her long neglected charms.
Beneath a Wodvile's form we trace
Bold Genius, clad in arms;
Now Hero of the tilted fray,
Now wooing Learning to display
Her long neglected charms.
And though the fam'd poetic flood,
That ran through Derby's gen'rous blood
In mute oblivion slumbers;
Deck'd in a wreath for ever green,
The strong Enchanter still is seen
In tuneful Surry's numbers.
That ran through Derby's gen'rous blood
In mute oblivion slumbers;
Deck'd in a wreath for ever green,
The strong Enchanter still is seen
In tuneful Surry's numbers.
15
More sure the Spouse of Derby's fame;
Doom'd with a Spenser's, Milton's name,
Immortally to shine:
No other Goddess needed They
To tune the Lyre, and wake the Lay
To harmony divine.
Doom'd with a Spenser's, Milton's name,
Immortally to shine:
No other Goddess needed They
To tune the Lyre, and wake the Lay
To harmony divine.
Branch of a high and stately Tree!
Whose vig'rous arms extended free
In Truth's salubrious air;
Firm as Newcastle to the right,
Be Truth thy love, and life, and light,
Thy first and latest care.
Whose vig'rous arms extended free
In Truth's salubrious air;
Firm as Newcastle to the right,
Be Truth thy love, and life, and light,
Thy first and latest care.
And if thy youthful taste refin'd
Shall lead thee to the walks of mind,
Be Montagu thy guide!
For if Her Spirit near Thee tend,
Thou'lt need no other airy Friend
To flutter at thy side.
Shall lead thee to the walks of mind,
Be Montagu thy guide!
For if Her Spirit near Thee tend,
Thou'lt need no other airy Friend
To flutter at thy side.
16
Perhaps in unknown worlds of light,
Whose radiance would abash the might
Of less aspiring eyes,
She now with Shakespear loves to roam,
And seek, above their starry home,
For more refulgent skies.
Whose radiance would abash the might
Of less aspiring eyes,
She now with Shakespear loves to roam,
And seek, above their starry home,
For more refulgent skies.
And who, amid the realms of air,
More fit his flight sublime to share,
Than She, who here below,
The Guardian of his mighty name,
Put the invidious Gaul to shame,
A mean yet mighty foe.
More fit his flight sublime to share,
Than She, who here below,
The Guardian of his mighty name,
Put the invidious Gaul to shame,
A mean yet mighty foe.
But, soaring with Her Bard on high,
From kindred claims She doth not fly,
Or care of Thee evade;
For, at thy least imploring prayer,
Her upward course She will forbear,
And hasten to thine aid.
From kindred claims She doth not fly,
Or care of Thee evade;
For, at thy least imploring prayer,
Her upward course She will forbear,
And hasten to thine aid.
17
The Eagle from her mountain throne,
Will soar in viewless pomp, alone,
The sovereign Sun to flare;
Yet on her nest her eye will keep,
And downward rush with lightning sweep,
Should that require her care.
Will soar in viewless pomp, alone,
The sovereign Sun to flare;
Yet on her nest her eye will keep,
And downward rush with lightning sweep,
Should that require her care.
Offspring of Genius and of Worth!
By these more honour'd in thy birth
Than splendour of the past;
Of all thy House shall I omit
The mind by glowing Fancy lit
The brightest and the last?
By these more honour'd in thy birth
Than splendour of the past;
Of all thy House shall I omit
The mind by glowing Fancy lit
The brightest and the last?
To me it seems less lustrous yet,
That Tudor and Plantagenet
Thy high descent adorn;
Than, even in its latest close,
To know, that with Thy Father rose
Its Talent's brightest morn.
That Tudor and Plantagenet
Thy high descent adorn;
Than, even in its latest close,
To know, that with Thy Father rose
Its Talent's brightest morn.
18
Ah! pity that Affliction's cloud
Should e'er have hung its damping shroud
Upon a morn so bright;
How oft do worldly vapours dense
Chill the great heart's too subtle sense,
And half its harvest blight!
Should e'er have hung its damping shroud
Upon a morn so bright;
How oft do worldly vapours dense
Chill the great heart's too subtle sense,
And half its harvest blight!
That Heart in very essence good,
That Mind so little understood,
How nobly had they shone;
Had not deep Sorrow's tyrant weight
In envy of their high estate,
Their energy undone!
That Mind so little understood,
How nobly had they shone;
Had not deep Sorrow's tyrant weight
In envy of their high estate,
Their energy undone!
Check'd by a mob's malicious sneer,
Too long from Action's public sphere
Did Diffidence estrange
A Genius, that its head might rear
Aloft, and scarce have found its peer
Within the Senate's range.
Too long from Action's public sphere
Did Diffidence estrange
A Genius, that its head might rear
Aloft, and scarce have found its peer
Within the Senate's range.
19
This all must mourn, who mark the course
Of that proud Genius; know the force
With which the Lion dashes;
When fitful rousing from his lair,
Indignant through the toils of Care
His kindling courage flashes.
Of that proud Genius; know the force
With which the Lion dashes;
When fitful rousing from his lair,
Indignant through the toils of Care
His kindling courage flashes.
But when retiring to his Muse,
He conjures round the rainbow hues
Of wild Imagination;
Then, prodigal of Fancy's favours,
Amid the' unfinish'd Eden wavers,
And quits his own creation:
He conjures round the rainbow hues
Of wild Imagination;
Then, prodigal of Fancy's favours,
Amid the' unfinish'd Eden wavers,
And quits his own creation:
Who sighs not that another World,
So little like the Land unfurl'd
To Fancy's glorying sight,
Should e'er call down his forc'd regard,
And pluck the heaven-exalted Bard
From his imperial height?
So little like the Land unfurl'd
To Fancy's glorying sight,
Should e'er call down his forc'd regard,
And pluck the heaven-exalted Bard
From his imperial height?
20
Sweet Poesy! thy magic throws
Round Time's dull Glass the wreathing Rose
In such enchanting zone,
That, as the myriad sand-drops pass,
The cheating Flowers so hide the Glass,
We know not how they're flown.
Round Time's dull Glass the wreathing Rose
In such enchanting zone,
That, as the myriad sand-drops pass,
The cheating Flowers so hide the Glass,
We know not how they're flown.
Young Cherub! as the rosy smile
That dimples round thy lip, the while
I sing Thee, infant Gem!
And thy blue laughing eyes inspire
This passing tribute to thy Sire,
Shall any tongue condemn?
That dimples round thy lip, the while
I sing Thee, infant Gem!
And thy blue laughing eyes inspire
This passing tribute to thy Sire,
Shall any tongue condemn?
Shall any cold unfeeling gaze
Reprove this feeble burst of praise,
That Truth to Friendship ow'd?
Thou wilt, at least, O Child, survey
With more indulgent eye, the lay
That o'er thy cradle flow'd!
Reprove this feeble burst of praise,
That Truth to Friendship ow'd?
Thou wilt, at least, O Child, survey
With more indulgent eye, the lay
That o'er thy cradle flow'd!
21
Unconscious yet, some future year,
Perchance a sigh, a smile, a tear,
This votive strain may cause;
One sigh of thine from Feeling's treasure,
One tear of thanks, and smile of pleasure
Were worth a World's applause!
Perchance a sigh, a smile, a tear,
This votive strain may cause;
One sigh of thine from Feeling's treasure,
One tear of thanks, and smile of pleasure
Were worth a World's applause!
| Stanzas, by the Author of "Dunluce Castle" | |