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Poems

By George Dyer
Dyer, George (1755-1841)
  
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POEMS.
 II. 
ODE II. TO MELANCHOLY.
 III. 
ODE III. WRITTEN IN THE CLOISTERS OF CHRIST-HOSPITAL, IN LONDON.
 V. 
ODE V. ON THE EVENING.
  
THE MADMAN.
 VI. 
ODE VI. WRITTEN IN BEDLAM:
 VII. 
ODE VII. TO ANTHONY DEANE, OF BATH, SOMERSETSHIRE;
 VII. 
ODE VII. GAIA,
 VIII. 
ODE VIII. A TRIUMPHANT ODE OF THE ISRAELITES,
 IX. 
ODE IX. BALAAM'S PROPHECY.
 XI. 
ODE XI. ON GENIUS.
 XII. 
ODE XII. TO THE NIGHTINGALE.
 XIV. 
ODE XIV. RAYMOND AND ANGELINA.
 XV. 
ODE XV. WRITTEN ON A BLANK LEAF OF MILTON'S PARADISE LOST,
 XVI. 
ODE XVI. ADDRESSED TO DR. ROBERT ANDERSON, OF HERIOT'S-GREEN, EDINBURGH,
 XVII. 
ODE XVII. ASTERIA ROCKING THE CRADLE,
 XVIII. 
ODE XVIII. WRITTEN ON THE DEATH OF JOHN HOWARD ,
 XIX. 
ODE XIX. TO A YOUNG PAINTER AND POETESS.
  
ON A LADY,
  
ODE TO A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.
 XX. 
ODE XX. ON AN APPROACHING SPRING
 XXIV. 
ODE XXIV. WINTER DEFEATED.
 XXV. 
ODE XXV. A GLEE.
 XXVI. 
ODE XXVI. THE RESLOVE.
  
ON TAKING LEAVE OF ARTHUR AIKIN,
 XXVII. 
ODE XXVII.
 XXVIII. 
ODE XXVIII. THE MUSICIANS;
  
ADDRESSED TO THE SOCIETY FOR ESTABLISHING A LITERARY FUND FOR AUTHORS IN DISTRESS,
 XXIX. 
ODE XXIX. SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY COLONEL LOVELACE,
 XXXIII. 
ODE XXXIII. TO DR. SAMUEL PARR , OF HADDON NEAR WARWICK.
 XXXVII. 
ODE XXXVII. TO PITY.
 XXXVIII. 
ODE XXXVIII. THE FAIR SCEPTIC;
 XXXIX. 
ODE XXXIX. AFTER VISITING DRYBURGH ABBEY, IN BERWICKSHIRE,
 XL. 
ODE XL. HYMN TO CHARITY .
  
TO A LADY,
  
THE POET'S FATE.
  
THE BALANCE.
  
POETIC SYMPATHIES.
  
THE REDRESS.

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107

ODE XIX. TO A YOUNG PAINTER AND POETESS.

I

On me, young artist, why essay
These earlier sketches of thy skill?
Thy colours throw not thus away,
On fruitless triflers of the quill.

II

Go, paint the rainbow's mingling hues,
The rising sun, the western skies;
Or seek some fair one for thy Muse,
And steal the fire from Beauty's eyes.

III

Now, museful, on the rustic seat,
Conceive the landscape's rich design:
See lights and shades harmonious meet,
And pencil Nature's wavy line.
108

IV

Now, watchful, near some mouldering tower,
View the ship billow'd by the storm;
And where the clouds, thick gathering, lower,
Mark the rude-mantled Tempest's form.

V

Thus ancient art superior rose,
To Beauty's clear exemplar true;
And Fiction, when to paint she chose,
Still paid to nature homage due.

VI

And thou, fair minstrel, pour the strain
To some endearing favourite youth,
Belov'd and loving thee again,
And crown him with the wreath of Truth.

VII

Pierce the deep mazes of the heart,
And catch the pure poetic rage;
Or mark, the comic muse's part,
The manners of a motley age.
109

VIII

Unfold the seasons as they change,
And fix each form, that glides along;
Thro' fancy's fairy regions range,
And breathe the joy-inspiring song.

IX

Now in melodious warblings gay,
Raise the soft wish, the tender sigh;
Till nymphs and swains repeat thy lay,
And dart the love-illumin'd eye.

X

So may the foliage of thy spring
Be follow'd by the richest bloom;
Nor thou in plaintive numbers sing
To Genius, withering in the tomb.
 

On occasion of his requesting the author to sit for his portrait.

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