The Works of the Late Aaron Hill ... In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With An Essay on the Art of Acting |
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An Address, from the Statues at Stowe, to Lord Cobham, on his Return to his Garden.
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 | The Works of the Late Aaron Hill |  |
An Address, from the Statues at Stowe, to Lord Cobham, on his Return to his Garden.
From every muse, and every art, thy own,
Thy bowers, our Theatres, thy mind, our throne;
Hail to thy virtues, manumiz'd from state,
Hail to thy leisure to be wisely great!
Fetter'd by duties, and to forms enslav'd,
How timely has thy life a remnant sav'd!
To taste that freedom, which thy sword maintain'd,
And lead, in letter'd ease, a life unpain'd!
So Scipio, Carthage fall'n, resign'd his plume,
And smil'd, at the forgetfulness of Rome.
Thy bowers, our Theatres, thy mind, our throne;
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Hail to thy leisure to be wisely great!
Fetter'd by duties, and to forms enslav'd,
How timely has thy life a remnant sav'd!
To taste that freedom, which thy sword maintain'd,
And lead, in letter'd ease, a life unpain'd!
So Scipio, Carthage fall'n, resign'd his plume,
And smil'd, at the forgetfulness of Rome.
O, greatly bless'd! whose evening sweetliest shines,
And in unclouded slowness, calm, declines!
Now, free reflection, with reverted eye,
Wan'd from hot noontide, and a troubled sky,
Divides life well—the largest part long known
Thy country's claim—the last, and best, thy own.
And in unclouded slowness, calm, declines!
Now, free reflection, with reverted eye,
Wan'd from hot noontide, and a troubled sky,
Divides life well—the largest part long known
Thy country's claim—the last, and best, thy own.
Go, like the masters of the world, go shine;
Be Charles' life, and Dioclesian's thine:
Form thy own power; dependent peace create,
And shade distinction from the storms of state:
With pray'rs, and praise, thy toil, (like heaven's) be paid,
And guard the growing world, thy hands have made.
There, while detach'd, thy self-supported soul
Resumes dominion, and escapes controul;
Moves, with a grandeur, monarchs seek, in vain,
Above all forms, all dangers, and all pain:
The muse shall find thee, in thy bless'd retreat,
And breathe this honest wish at Cobham's feet:
Fresh, as thy lakes, may all thy pleasures flow;
And breezy, like thy groves, thy passions blow
Wide as thy fancy, be thy spreading praise,
And long, and lovely, as thy walks—thy days.
Be Charles' life, and Dioclesian's thine:
Form thy own power; dependent peace create,
And shade distinction from the storms of state:
With pray'rs, and praise, thy toil, (like heaven's) be paid,
And guard the growing world, thy hands have made.
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Resumes dominion, and escapes controul;
Moves, with a grandeur, monarchs seek, in vain,
Above all forms, all dangers, and all pain:
The muse shall find thee, in thy bless'd retreat,
And breathe this honest wish at Cobham's feet:
Fresh, as thy lakes, may all thy pleasures flow;
And breezy, like thy groves, thy passions blow
Wide as thy fancy, be thy spreading praise,
And long, and lovely, as thy walks—thy days.
| The Works of the Late Aaron Hill | |