 | The Poetical Works of Percival Stockdale |  |
357
POEMS.
Compassed round
With solitude; yet not alone, while thou
Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn
Purples the east. Still govern thou my song,
Urania! and fit audience find, though few.
Paradise Lost, B. vii. v. 27.
With solitude; yet not alone, while thou
Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn
Purples the east. Still govern thou my song,
Urania! and fit audience find, though few.
Paradise Lost, B. vii. v. 27.
359
TO THE REV. WILLIAM BEVILLE.
365
TO EDMUND WALLER, ESQ. Of Hall-Barn, in Buckinghamshire,
On seeing the tomb of Edmund Waller, the poet, in the Church-yard of Beconsfield, neglected, and going to ruin.
Shalt thou from public shame exempt.
Thy reverence to this tomb refuse!
A Waller, with profane contempt,
Dares to insult a Waller's muse!
Thy reverence to this tomb refuse!
A Waller, with profane contempt,
Dares to insult a Waller's muse!
Whom chiefs of the fanatic train
Loved, for they felt her purer fire;
Whom in our present monarch's reign,
The sons of England yet admire;
Loved, for they felt her purer fire;
Whom in our present monarch's reign,
The sons of England yet admire;
Yet, for the tomb's unequal fate,
Our indignation we may spare;
The memory of the truly great
Depends not on a stupid heir.
Our indignation we may spare;
The memory of the truly great
Depends not on a stupid heir.
366
For canst thou, parricide, destroy
The deathless force of Waller's mind?
Canst thou his flame, his wit annoy,
Which will but die with human kind?
The deathless force of Waller's mind?
Canst thou his flame, his wit annoy,
Which will but die with human kind?
The glory of the poet's page
Shall brighten still, and still expand,
In spite of envy's feeble rage,
Or mammon's cold, tenacious hand.
Shall brighten still, and still expand,
In spite of envy's feeble rage,
Or mammon's cold, tenacious hand.
Then let that page, inspired by love,
And by the muse's hallowed flame,
The merit of dead Waller prove,
The Poet's character proclaim.
And by the muse's hallowed flame,
The merit of dead Waller prove,
The Poet's character proclaim.
The rugged tree, with yellow tinged;
The icy monumental stone;
The iron oft with rags befringed,
With many a noxious weed o'ergrown;
The icy monumental stone;
The iron oft with rags befringed,
With many a noxious weed o'ergrown;
While far from chance's blind controul
Great Edmund's bays perpetual bloom,
Let these describe a wretch's soul,
And be the breathing Waller's tomb.
Great Edmund's bays perpetual bloom,
Let these describe a wretch's soul,
And be the breathing Waller's tomb.
367
Sons of low care, how long, in vain,
To you shall useful truth be told?
Yet hear once more, the moral strain;
You damn yourselves to save your gold.
To you shall useful truth be told?
Yet hear once more, the moral strain;
You damn yourselves to save your gold.
Beconsfield, April 12th, 1778.
A SONG.
DO great atchievements fire thy breast;
Do martial trophies break thy rest?
Or laurels of eternal bloom,
Like those that hallow Cæsar's tomb?
To memory bring the fatal ball,
Perhaps not sent from Frederickshall,
Which proved the Swede's illustrious fame,
An air-balloon, an empty name.
Do martial trophies break thy rest?
Or laurels of eternal bloom,
Like those that hallow Cæsar's tomb?
To memory bring the fatal ball,
Perhaps not sent from Frederickshall,
Which proved the Swede's illustrious fame,
An air-balloon, an empty name.
Or does the bright poetic muse
To nobler glory raise your views?
Sagacious malice checks your aim,
And poverty repels your flame.
When envy with the poet dies,
His rapid same through Europe flies;
But 'tis to genius, after death,
An air-balloon, an empty breath.
To nobler glory raise your views?
368
And poverty repels your flame.
When envy with the poet dies,
His rapid same through Europe flies;
But 'tis to genius, after death,
An air-balloon, an empty breath.
Or fonder of domestic life,
The lover weds a charming wife;
Anticipates unfading joys,
And gentle girls, and sprightly boys;
But female tyranny comes forth,
And throws aside fictitious worth;
The course of one revolving moon
May prove your bliss an air-balloon.
The lover weds a charming wife;
Anticipates unfading joys,
And gentle girls, and sprightly boys;
But female tyranny comes forth,
And throws aside fictitious worth;
The course of one revolving moon
May prove your bliss an air-balloon.
Through life, what'er our lot, we're all
Like Montgolfier's elastic ball;
We all attract admiring eyes;
The court or village we surprize;
Now soar to some ethereal height;
Met by rude gales, now sink our flight;
To parent earth, at length, descend;
The trivial sport, and wonder end.
Like Montgolfier's elastic ball;
We all attract admiring eyes;
The court or village we surprize;
Now soar to some ethereal height;
Met by rude gales, now sink our flight;
To parent earth, at length, descend;
The trivial sport, and wonder end.
London, Feb. 16th, 1784.
369
THE RIVAL FLOWERS.
[_]
In the month of November, a young lady had an elegant bouquet; it was composed of a rose and a jasmine. A gentleman, who was in her company, pronounced the flowers artificial. She assured him that they were not; he still doubted; she plucked two or three leaves from the rose' and gave them to him; by them he was convinced that the nosegay was a natural one. This scene, totally uninteresting to a phlegmatic mind, suggested to a poet the following imagery:
EVEN partial to a northern clime,
Where nature strews her frugal sweets,
And smiling on the poet's rhyme,
The generous Flora slow retreats.
Where nature strews her frugal sweets,
And smiling on the poet's rhyme,
The generous Flora slow retreats.
Fair Leonora, dangerous maid,
Who reared, and wore, each beauteous flower,
Took, one day, for superfluous aid,
The rose's and the jasmines's power.
Who reared, and wore, each beauteous flower,
Took, one day, for superfluous aid,
The rose's and the jasmines's power.
370
Clitander, with adventurous choice,
To specious warfare seated nigh,
Inhaled soft musick from her voice,
Delicious poison from her eye.
To specious warfare seated nigh,
Inhaled soft musick from her voice,
Delicious poison from her eye.
Cupid, to whom all archers yield,
Perched in her breast;—the bright bouquet
Before him glowed; and thus concealed,
The God in charming ambush lay.
Perched in her breast;—the bright bouquet
Before him glowed; and thus concealed,
The God in charming ambush lay.
Unseen, a small, but piercing dart,
Flew from his unrelenting bow;
I need not tell you, that the heart
Is always reached when he's the foe.
Flew from his unrelenting bow;
I need not tell you, that the heart
Is always reached when he's the foe.
Some blushing leaves, transfixed and borne
On the dread arrow winged their way;
Now, beyond cure, the heart was torne;
Compleat the triumph of the day.
On the dread arrow winged their way;
Now, beyond cure, the heart was torne;
Compleat the triumph of the day.
The fragrant foliage of the rose,
But more decisive made the wound;
In Kent such foliage never blows,
Nor yet on Sharon's holy ground.
But more decisive made the wound;
In Kent such foliage never blows,
Nor yet on Sharon's holy ground.
371
Unfading flower! the Sibyl's leaves,
Fraught with Jove's friendship, or his hate,
As every feeling soul believes,
Were never charged with surer fate!
Fraught with Jove's friendship, or his hate,
As every feeling soul believes,
Were never charged with surer fate!
Oh! dire effect of beauty's pride!
As Pope, in his immortal strain
Hath sung, the hapless lover died,
Entranced, “of aromatick pain!”
As Pope, in his immortal strain
Hath sung, the hapless lover died,
Entranced, “of aromatick pain!”
The God of keenest joys and, woes,
Exulting, to Olympus flew;
And envious of the honoured rose,
The jasmine drooped, and paler grew.
Exulting, to Olympus flew;
And envious of the honoured rose,
The jasmine drooped, and paler grew.
Durham.
TO MRS. JORDAN.
THALIA's pupil! her accomplished friend!
Whose genius eager crowds with rapture view;
Whom spirit, ease, and harmony attend;
Alike to Imogen, to Hoyden true:
Whose genius eager crowds with rapture view;
Whom spirit, ease, and harmony attend;
Alike to Imogen, to Hoyden true:
372
The faultless powers of the gay muse we prove,
In thee, chief guardian of her brilliant throne!
In thee, simplicity, and nature move;
And Garrick and perfection are thy own.
In thee, chief guardian of her brilliant throne!
In thee, simplicity, and nature move;
And Garrick and perfection are thy own.
And if the pathos of thy varied art
Breathes in a tender interlude of song;
How the vibrations of each feeling heart
Tuned by thy voice, the liquid notes prolong!
Breathes in a tender interlude of song;
How the vibrations of each feeling heart
Tuned by thy voice, the liquid notes prolong!
Let others vocal art, extent, and tone
Applaud, while Mara's undulations roll;
My faculties a stronger influence own;—
The soft, impassioned musick of the soul.
Applaud, while Mara's undulations roll;
My faculties a stronger influence own;—
The soft, impassioned musick of the soul.
First favourite of the drama's cheerful muse!
Her pride, in mirth; in sentiment refined;
Whose magick brightens fancy's vivid hues;
Accept the tribute of an honest mind.
Her pride, in mirth; in sentiment refined;
Whose magick brightens fancy's vivid hues;
Accept the tribute of an honest mind.
Yet as fair truth by me was ne'er suppressed!—
May not self love with honesty agree?
Ambition rouzes justice in my breast;
And bids me grace my poetry with thee!
May not self love with honesty agree?
Ambition rouzes justice in my breast;
And bids me grace my poetry with thee!
373
For taste must ever such a theme inspire;
And were it urged with a congenial flame,
Not less the subject than the poet's fire
Would prove my talents, and ensure my fame.
And were it urged with a congenial flame,
Not less the subject than the poet's fire
Would prove my talents, and ensure my fame.
London, June 17, 1793.
374
THE BLUE EYE.
Marked you her eye of heavenly blue?Marked you her cheek of roseate hue?
That eye in liquid circles moving,
That cheek abashed at man's approving:
The one, love's arrows darting round;
The other, blushing at the wound!
IN THE DUENNA.
AN ANSWER TO THE ENCOMIUM ON THE BLUE EYE.
Faint are your eyes of heavenly blue,While Delia's eyes of jet I view;
375
To these, the fire, and force of heaven:
With rapid stroke they reach the heart;
They, from their liquid circles dart
(More magical their circles prove!)
The flame of Cupid, and of Jove.
Her cheeks no blushes need betray,
That man approving owns her sway;
With rose as lenient as benign,
Need not regret that lovers pine;
To them denied, the leisure hour,
To them denied the frigid power,
With lightning, and in rapture slain,
Or to approve, or to complain,
The dread decree they do not wait:
Her look is instantaneous fate;
They heave not the repeated sigh;
Of electricity they die!
Windsor Great Park, Nov. 26th, 1793.
376
------ THE FIXED, AND NOBLE MIND
TURNS ALL OCCURRENCE TO IT'S OWN ADVANTAGE.
Young.
TURNS ALL OCCURRENCE TO IT'S OWN ADVANTAGE.
Young.
[_]
The following verses were the ruling object of their authour when he could not move himself, nor be moved, without agony. They were composed by several short exertions of his mind, which were interrupted by debility, or by pain. After this honest apology, they will never incur the frown of generous criticism.
VERSES ADDRESSED TO OXFORD.
FAIR seat of sages, and of bards divine!
Terrestrial residence of all the nine!
Oh! had my ardent, and aspiring youth
Felt in thy hallowed groves, important truth;
Inhaled, in them, the God's inspiring ray;
Caught the strong thought, and waked the glowing lay;
Then, reason, fancy, happily combined,
And tuneful diction, had my verse refined:
Then would thy liberal sons have raised my fame;
And high above my merit, fixed my name.
Terrestrial residence of all the nine!
Oh! had my ardent, and aspiring youth
Felt in thy hallowed groves, important truth;
Inhaled, in them, the God's inspiring ray;
Caught the strong thought, and waked the glowing lay;
Then, reason, fancy, happily combined,
And tuneful diction, had my verse refined:
Then would thy liberal sons have raised my fame;
And high above my merit, fixed my name.
377
But now, my life's, my mind's meridian o'er;
Poetick vigour, active hope, no more;
Thy shades, my faint, my setting fires, receive,
Just ere our vital hemisphere they leave.
Yet, could I live, one effort more to make,
For verse's and for fairer virtue's sake,
(Oh! might I fill our ancient province, here;
And prove at once, a poet, and a seer!)
Haply, some verdict, of decisive praise,
Would crown my memory with perpetual bays:
Oxford herself might mark my merit's tomb;
Restore it's life, and bid it's honours bloom.
Poetick vigour, active hope, no more;
Thy shades, my faint, my setting fires, receive,
Just ere our vital hemisphere they leave.
Yet, could I live, one effort more to make,
For verse's and for fairer virtue's sake,
(Oh! might I fill our ancient province, here;
And prove at once, a poet, and a seer!)
Haply, some verdict, of decisive praise,
Would crown my memory with perpetual bays:
Oxford herself might mark my merit's tomb;
Restore it's life, and bid it's honours bloom.
Thus (for, like Maro's swain, an object small
I near a great one place) at Dryden's call,
Britons enamoured grew of nature's rules,
And spurned the jargon of the doating schools;
To genius, and to taste, were converts made;
With wonder Milton's vast sublime surveyed;
Imbibed seraphick rapture from his page,
To glory rescued from a barbarous age.
I near a great one place) at Dryden's call,
Britons enamoured grew of nature's rules,
And spurned the jargon of the doating schools;
To genius, and to taste, were converts made;
With wonder Milton's vast sublime surveyed;
Imbibed seraphick rapture from his page,
To glory rescued from a barbarous age.
Middleton-Stoney, Oxfordshire, July 10th, 1794.
378
VERSES TO A ROBIN-RED-BREAST, WHO SINGS EVERY MORNING, NEAR MY BED-CHAMBER.
SWEET bird; thy music charms my rest;
It's warbling soothes my pensive breast.
Delighted fancy hears thy song
It's artless melody prolong;
For oh! when nature strikes the heart,
She leaves no trace of Cramer's art.
It's warbling soothes my pensive breast.
Delighted fancy hears thy song
It's artless melody prolong;
For oh! when nature strikes the heart,
She leaves no trace of Cramer's art.
Care, pain, and dire misfortune flee
The powers of Morpheus, and of thee;
Those powers combined, with soft controul
Diffuse Elysium o'er my soul;
The sails of persecution furled,
I steer to some ideal world;
Some finer world, where Zephyr's breeze
Panting on aromatick trees,
Descends from æther ne'er o'ercast
With clouds that hurl the wintry blast.
There I repose in fragrant bowers,
Where Flora crowns the glowing flowers;
Where a meandring, murmuring stream
Prompts, and improves the muse's theme:
Through shades imagination roves,
Which far exceed St. Dial's groves;
Where a majestick river flows,
Disdaining all descriptive prose;
His deep, clear floods, the Thames outvie;
His playful beauties, even the Wye.
The powers of Morpheus, and of thee;
Those powers combined, with soft controul
Diffuse Elysium o'er my soul;
The sails of persecution furled,
I steer to some ideal world;
Some finer world, where Zephyr's breeze
Panting on aromatick trees,
Descends from æther ne'er o'ercast
With clouds that hurl the wintry blast.
There I repose in fragrant bowers,
Where Flora crowns the glowing flowers;
379
Prompts, and improves the muse's theme:
Through shades imagination roves,
Which far exceed St. Dial's groves;
Where a majestick river flows,
Disdaining all descriptive prose;
His deep, clear floods, the Thames outvie;
His playful beauties, even the Wye.
In this bright, visionary scene,
Our species with angelick mien,
And friendly voice, the stranger greet;
Their virtues, as their forms, complete:
Illusive dream! in which I find
That generous actions mark mankind!
Our species with angelick mien,
And friendly voice, the stranger greet;
Their virtues, as their forms, complete:
Illusive dream! in which I find
That generous actions mark mankind!
Since, then, sweet songster of the town,
Whose accents bid me sleep on down,
With numerous ills thy tuneful strife
Dispels their gloom, and gilds my life;
When Boreas heaps our world with snow,
Come to a heart inured to woe;
Hence, quick, when miseries are displayed,
To recollect;—to feel;—to aid;
With safe, and timely pinion, fly
The wild oppression of the sky;
Fly to protectors, mild, like thee;
Compassion, and tranquillity;
Each ruffled, and each flagging plume,
With me, their health shall soon resume;
Restored from cold, from famine's pain,
Shall soon their equal gloss regain:
Thy genius we shall soon descry
In the new lustre of thine eye:
And soon shall thy harmonious throat
Pour forth, again, it's liquid note!
Who can with hold the generous deed,
When innocence, and beauty plead?
Then, surely, for thy life, thy weal,
A poet ardently must feel!
Yes;—he will give thee all thy claim;
Present relief; and future fame!
Whose accents bid me sleep on down,
With numerous ills thy tuneful strife
Dispels their gloom, and gilds my life;
When Boreas heaps our world with snow,
Come to a heart inured to woe;
380
To recollect;—to feel;—to aid;
With safe, and timely pinion, fly
The wild oppression of the sky;
Fly to protectors, mild, like thee;
Compassion, and tranquillity;
Each ruffled, and each flagging plume,
With me, their health shall soon resume;
Restored from cold, from famine's pain,
Shall soon their equal gloss regain:
Thy genius we shall soon descry
In the new lustre of thine eye:
And soon shall thy harmonious throat
Pour forth, again, it's liquid note!
Who can with hold the generous deed,
When innocence, and beauty plead?
Then, surely, for thy life, thy weal,
A poet ardently must feel!
Yes;—he will give thee all thy claim;
Present relief; and future fame!
Monmouth, Sept. 13th, 1794.
381
[Here lies]
[_]
The following epitaph I wrote for General WASHINGTON, about three years before the death of that good, and great man; whose talents and virtues I had always respected, and admired. At this moment I extremely regret that the epitaph was so soon as applicable in time as in character.
The only part that could be changed, and corrupted,
of
GEORGE WASHINGTON;
a man, whose rare, and great
accomplishments
gained an accession of splendour
from the depraved and abandoned European age
in which he lived.
After he had saved the British colonies in America from tyranny, and slavery,
by his personal valour, and masterly knowledge of the art of war;
he long preserved them in peace, and prosperity,
by his political, moral, and religious virtues.
To dispassionate, distinguishing, and good minds,
it must be evident,
that his conduct had soared
to the utmost pitch
of
human excellence;
of which
he undoubtedly owed
not a little to himself;
yet much of it
to beings
of
very different ranks, and dispositions.
His GOD had endowed him with an uncommon rectitude of heart:
and with as uncommon a union of calmness, vigour, & elevation of mind:
and these inestimable qualities
were stimulated, and impelled,
to their full exertion, and display,
by the most iniquitous enemies,
and oppressours of his country.
382
AN EPITAPH ON MRS. POPE.
HERE lies the female celebrated Young;Whose talents well deserve my plaintive song:
Oft with fine fiction she resigned her breath;
She suffered with decorum, nature's death.
A greater actress never trod the stage,
In comick elegance, or tragick rage.
But since the force of mind; the person's grace;
All the best honours of the human race,
Soon cease to strike the soul, and charm the eye;
Since all that flourishes but blooms to die;
Let us to virtue fix the wandering heart;
And through life's drama nobly act our part;
While conscience issues, from her critick laws
A verdict happier than the world's applause.
Bishop's-gate: by Windsor Great Park;
March 20th, 1797.
383
AN EPITAPH ON THE RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE.
HERE lies of Burke the cold, inactive clay;
His soul exulting in perpetual day:
With universal genius born to shine;
All themes, at once to strengthen, and refine;
Science, in aid of fancy, to engage;
And pour it, softened, on his ardent page.
Survey the beauties of his classick mind;
The critick leaves Longinus far behind.
Hear the great legislator plead the cause
Of instituted; of eternal laws;
Oppression, and rapacity submit
To matchless reason; eloquence, and wit.
See, while his thunders iron hearts assail,
The tyrants of each hemisphere turn pale!
His soul exulting in perpetual day:
With universal genius born to shine;
All themes, at once to strengthen, and refine;
Science, in aid of fancy, to engage;
And pour it, softened, on his ardent page.
Survey the beauties of his classick mind;
The critick leaves Longinus far behind.
Hear the great legislator plead the cause
Of instituted; of eternal laws;
Oppression, and rapacity submit
To matchless reason; eloquence, and wit.
See, while his thunders iron hearts assail,
The tyrants of each hemisphere turn pale!
Of private virtue by the warmth, and light;
This luminary, more serenely bright,
Beamed with descending, yet effulgent ray;
And varied thus, and beautified his day.
This luminary, more serenely bright,
Beamed with descending, yet effulgent ray;
And varied thus, and beautified his day.
384
Hail! shade beatified! thou friend of man!
Friend of God's mortal, and immortal plan!
Thy moral fame, too strong to be withstood,
Must make our youth ambitious to be good;
Thy noble works which guard us while we live,
Of heavenly bliss a demonstration give;
For surely minds like thine can never die;
They mount, by nature, and assert the sky;
Their glory fires us to our latest breath;
Protects, through life; and animates, in death!
Friend of God's mortal, and immortal plan!
Thy moral fame, too strong to be withstood,
Must make our youth ambitious to be good;
Thy noble works which guard us while we live,
Of heavenly bliss a demonstration give;
For surely minds like thine can never die;
They mount, by nature, and assert the sky;
Their glory fires us to our latest breath;
Protects, through life; and animates, in death!
Durham, July 14th, 1797.
AN INSCRIPTION FOR A COTTAGE, IN A PICTURESQUE AND BEAUTIFUL VALE IN NORTHUMBERLAND.
WHOE'ER thou art, from life's low joys refined;
Of nature, and the first, eternal mind
Enamoured; welcome to these modern shades;
Thy genuine worship needs no classick aids;
Nor Phœbus; nor the nine Aonian maids.
Of nature, and the first, eternal mind
Enamoured; welcome to these modern shades;
Thy genuine worship needs no classick aids;
Nor Phœbus; nor the nine Aonian maids.
385
Objects this rude, this humble roof surround,
Which aggrandize, which consecrate the ground.
Here let thy soul it's noble scope enjoy;
And deem a palace but a childish toy.
While the descending sun attracts the sight;
The fancy charms with varied tints of light;
Or when the moon, with her inspiring ray
Beams on the poet's mind a softer day,
Then view the mead, the stream, the wood, the sky;
And paper houses with Escurials vie.
Which aggrandize, which consecrate the ground.
Here let thy soul it's noble scope enjoy;
And deem a palace but a childish toy.
While the descending sun attracts the sight;
The fancy charms with varied tints of light;
Or when the moon, with her inspiring ray
Beams on the poet's mind a softer day,
Then view the mead, the stream, the wood, the sky;
And paper houses with Escurials vie.
Or, if thou readest here those deathless lines,
Where the sublime that conquers Homer shines;
While Eden it's expanded bloom displays;
Or, to “the living throne; the sapphire blaze,”
While fancy soars, on bold, Miltonian wings;
Look down on lords; on ministers, and kings.
Where the sublime that conquers Homer shines;
While Eden it's expanded bloom displays;
Or, to “the living throne; the sapphire blaze,”
While fancy soars, on bold, Miltonian wings;
Look down on lords; on ministers, and kings.
August 29th, 1798.
386
THE NAVAL FIRST OF AUGUST, 1798.
A SONG.
YES! Nelson, the Godhead our gratitude owns;
The protector of kings; the supporter of thrones!
Our faith hears his thunder; his lightning we see,
Launched by Howe, by St. Vincent, by Duncan, and thee!
The protector of kings; the supporter of thrones!
Our faith hears his thunder; his lightning we see,
Launched by Howe, by St. Vincent, by Duncan, and thee!
For as soon as the sails of our fleets are unfurled,
Glory smiles on our isle, and enlivens the world.
Glory smiles on our isle, and enlivens the world.
The worst plague of old Egypt through thee will he cure;
For compared with French freedom, who would not endure
Of darkness oppressive the palpable fogs;
The pelting of hailstones; the croaking of frogs?
For compared with French freedom, who would not endure
Of darkness oppressive the palpable fogs;
The pelting of hailstones; the croaking of frogs?
But as soon as the sails, &c.
The Turk feels a joy, not unmingled with fear;
Down the blush of the Czar steals of rapture a tear;
Then, ourselves the Great Nation we surely might name,
Had not France's Directors polluted the claim.
Down the blush of the Czar steals of rapture a tear;
Then, ourselves the Great Nation we surely might name,
Had not France's Directors polluted the claim.
For as soon as the sails, &c.
387
Ye traitors in heart, your malignity cease;
Rail no more at this war; it will dictate a peace:
But with heaven, and with earth still these wretches will jar;
And infer our destruction from peace, or from war.
Rail no more at this war; it will dictate a peace:
But with heaven, and with earth still these wretches will jar;
And infer our destruction from peace, or from war.
Yet as soon as the sails, &c.
While ingratitude chills the seditious, below;
From Olympus new beams of beatitude flow;
Hawke is proud of the laurels that Nelson hath won,
And great Chatham with transport looks down on his son.
From Olympus new beams of beatitude flow;
Hawke is proud of the laurels that Nelson hath won,
And great Chatham with transport looks down on his son.
For as soon as the sails of our fleets are unfurled,
Glory smiles on our isle, and enlivens the world.
Glory smiles on our isle, and enlivens the world.
Durham, Oct. 6th, 1798.
AN EPITAPH ON DAVID GARRICK.
THE frost prevailing of a barbarous age,
Bœtian fogs impended on our stage;
When Shakespeare's genius, with a flood of light,
Dispelled the darkness of dramatick night:
With a new blaze our skies this comet fired;
The fathers wondered;—but the sons admired.
Bœtian fogs impended on our stage;
When Shakespeare's genius, with a flood of light,
Dispelled the darkness of dramatick night:
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The fathers wondered;—but the sons admired.
Beneath it's influence; by it's powerful aid,
Our hearts, and minds completely were displayed;
Guilt fled, affrighted, from it's piercing ray;
But virtue courted it's propitious day.
Our hearts, and minds completely were displayed;
Guilt fled, affrighted, from it's piercing ray;
But virtue courted it's propitious day.
By him, from nature is her sceptre torne;
Yet, on her plan, he peoples worlds unborn:
Hence pleased we view the monster of his Isle,
Contrasted with Miranda's magick smile:
The dapper elves adorn the lunar scene;
And suck the flower, or skim along the green.
Yet, on her plan, he peoples worlds unborn:
Hence pleased we view the monster of his Isle,
Contrasted with Miranda's magick smile:
The dapper elves adorn the lunar scene;
And suck the flower, or skim along the green.
But honest time must fix the poet's claim;
Must conquer malice, and perpetuate fame:
Milton, and Dryden, urged the publick praise,
By Pope led captive, with seraphick lays.
Must conquer malice, and perpetuate fame:
Milton, and Dryden, urged the publick praise,
By Pope led captive, with seraphick lays.
Yet the first power of Avon's swan was great;
Great was his rising, his deciding fate:
His early glory fired the coldest heart;
Even Ben despised his learning, and his art;
Shakespeare subdued the critick's rugged mind;
Still more victorious in an age refined,
Inspiring Garrick, he subdued mankind.
Great was his rising, his deciding fate:
His early glory fired the coldest heart;
Even Ben despised his learning, and his art;
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Still more victorious in an age refined,
Inspiring Garrick, he subdued mankind.
Lesbury, Oct. 2d, 1799.
AN EPITAPH ON A FINE, PROMISING BOY, WHO DIED, AFTER A LONG AND EXCRUCIATING ILLNESS.
SURE is the truth; though hid from mortal sight;“Whatever is, is,” ultimately, “right.”
Friends may lament; but he, who early dies,
Quits earth, and misery, for the blissful skies.
He, whose existence, woes, and joys contrast,
More charming feels the present by the past.
Here lies the frame terrestrial of a boy,
Mature, through torment, for the realms of joy.
Though young, he practised his Redeemer's mind,
The prayer, pathetic, but the will, resigned:
Now purer rapture gives his soul a flow
Which unembodied spirits only know;
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He thanks his Maker for his previous pain.
AN EPITAPH ON PRINCE SUWARROW.
HE, whose mean soul pollutes the name of Paul,
With France conspiring, dooms great Suwarrow's fall;
Just when the fervour of his dauntless mind
Aspired completely to avenge mankind.
With France conspiring, dooms great Suwarrow's fall;
Just when the fervour of his dauntless mind
Aspired completely to avenge mankind.
If martial glory, stung with keen distress,
Her drooping laurels views, and hints redress;
If heaven-born genius bids the man be free;
Away, with magick speed his honours flee;
Despair, with iron hand precludes relief;
He fought unconquered; but he dies with grief:
No friend repeats fair fame's harmonious breath;
No friend consoles him in the hour of death.
Her drooping laurels views, and hints redress;
If heaven-born genius bids the man be free;
Away, with magick speed his honours flee;
Despair, with iron hand precludes relief;
He fought unconquered; but he dies with grief:
No friend repeats fair fame's harmonious breath;
No friend consoles him in the hour of death.
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If despotism excites not all thy hate,
Indignant reader, think on Suwarrow's fate:
With servile adulation art thou pained?
Oh! think how Alfred; think how Virtue reigned!
Indignant reader, think on Suwarrow's fate:
With servile adulation art thou pained?
Oh! think how Alfred; think how Virtue reigned!
Lesbury, June 20th, 1800.
| The Poetical Works of Percival Stockdale | |