The works of Allan Ramsay edited by Burns Martin ... and John W. Oliver [... and Alexander M. Kinghorn ... and Alexander Law] |
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To the Right Honourable Earl of Hartford, Lord
Peircy, President, and the rest of the Honourable
Members of the Society of British Antiquarians.
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 | The works of Allan Ramsay |  |
142
To the Right Honourable Earl of Hartford, Lord Peircy, President, and the rest of the Honourable Members of the Society of British Antiquarians.
A Scots Ode.
To
HARTFORD and his learned Friends,
Whase Fame for Science far extends,
A Scottish Muse her Duty sends,
From Pictish Towers:
Health, Length of Days, and happy Ends,
Be ever yours.
Whase Fame for Science far extends,
A Scottish Muse her Duty sends,
From Pictish Towers:
Health, Length of Days, and happy Ends,
Be ever yours.
Your generous Cares make Light arise
From things obscure to vulgar Eyes,
Finding where hidden Knowledge lies,
T'improve the Mind;
And most delightfully surprise,
With Thoughts refin'd.
From things obscure to vulgar Eyes,
Finding where hidden Knowledge lies,
T'improve the Mind;
And most delightfully surprise,
With Thoughts refin'd.
When you the broke Inscription read,
Or amongst antique Ruins tread,
And view Remains of Princes dead,
In Funeral Piles,
Your Penetration seems decreed
To bless these Isles,
Or amongst antique Ruins tread,
And view Remains of Princes dead,
In Funeral Piles,
Your Penetration seems decreed
To bless these Isles,
Where
Romans form'd their Camps of old,
Their Gods and Urns of curious Mold,
Their Medals struck of Brass or Gold,
'Tis you can show,
And Truth of what's in Story told,
To you we owe.
Their Gods and Urns of curious Mold,
Their Medals struck of Brass or Gold,
'Tis you can show,
And Truth of what's in Story told,
To you we owe.
143
How beneficial is the Care,
That brightens up the Classick Lere!
When you the Documents compare,
With Authors old,
You ravish, when we can so fair
Your Light behold.
That brightens up the Classick Lere!
When you the Documents compare,
With Authors old,
You ravish, when we can so fair
Your Light behold.
Without your Comments, each old Book
By all the World would be forsook:
For who of Thought wou'd deign to look,
On doubtful Works,
'Till by your skilful Hands they're struck
With Sterling Marks?
By all the World would be forsook:
For who of Thought wou'd deign to look,
On doubtful Works,
'Till by your skilful Hands they're struck
With Sterling Marks?
By this your Learning Men are fir'd
With Love of Glory, and inspir'd
Like ancient Heroes, who ne'er tir'd
To win a Name;
And, by their God-like Acts, aspir'd
T'immortal Fame.
With Love of Glory, and inspir'd
Like ancient Heroes, who ne'er tir'd
To win a Name;
And, by their God-like Acts, aspir'd
T'immortal Fame.
Your useful Labours shall endure,
True Merit shall your Fame secure,
And will Posterity allure,
To search about
For Truth, by Demonstration sure,
Which leaves no Doubt.
True Merit shall your Fame secure,
And will Posterity allure,
To search about
For Truth, by Demonstration sure,
Which leaves no Doubt.
The Muse forsees brave HARTFORD's Name
Shall to all Writers be a Theme,
To last while Arts and Greatness claim
Th'Historian's Skill,
Or the chief Instrument of Fame,
The Poet's Quill.
Shall to all Writers be a Theme,
To last while Arts and Greatness claim
Th'Historian's Skill,
Or the chief Instrument of Fame,
The Poet's Quill.
144
PEMBROKE's a Name to Britain dear,
For Learning and brave Deeds of Wier;
The Genius still continues clear
In him whose Art,
In your rare Fellowship can bear
So great a Part.
For Learning and brave Deeds of Wier;
The Genius still continues clear
In him whose Art,
In your rare Fellowship can bear
So great a Part.
Bards yet unborn shall tune their Lays,
And Monuments harmonious raise
To WINCHELSEA and DEVON's Praise,
Whose high Desert,
And Vertues bright, like genial Rays,
Can Life impart.
And Monuments harmonious raise
To WINCHELSEA and DEVON's Praise,
Whose high Desert,
And Vertues bright, like genial Rays,
Can Life impart.
Nor want we Caledonians Sage,
Who read the painted Vellum Page,
No Strangers to each antique Stage,
And Druids Cells,
And sacred Ruins of each Age,
On Plains and Fells.
Who read the painted Vellum Page,
No Strangers to each antique Stage,
And Druids Cells,
And sacred Ruins of each Age,
On Plains and Fells.
Amongst all those of the first Rate,
Our learned CLERK blest with the Fate
Of thinking right, can best relate
These Beauties all,
Which bear the Marks of ancient Date,
Be-north the Wall.
Our learned CLERK blest with the Fate
Of thinking right, can best relate
These Beauties all,
Which bear the Marks of ancient Date,
Be-north the Wall.
The Wall which Hadrian first begun,
And bold Severus carried on,
From Rising to the Setting Sun,
On Britain's Coast,
Our Ancestors fierce Arms to shun,
Which gall'd them most.
And bold Severus carried on,
From Rising to the Setting Sun,
On Britain's Coast,
Our Ancestors fierce Arms to shun,
Which gall'd them most.
145
But now no need of Walls or Towers,
Ag'd Enmity no more endures,
Brave Britain joins her warlike Powers,
That always dare,
To open and to shut the Doors
Of Peace and War.
Ag'd Enmity no more endures,
Brave Britain joins her warlike Powers,
That always dare,
To open and to shut the Doors
Of Peace and War.
Advance, great Men, your wise Design,
And prosper in the Task divine;
Draw from Antiquity's deep Mine,
The precious Ore,
And in the British Annals shine,
Till Time's no more.
And prosper in the Task divine;
Draw from Antiquity's deep Mine,
The precious Ore,
And in the British Annals shine,
Till Time's no more.
| The works of Allan Ramsay | |