 | A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes |  |
On a BAY-LEAF, pluck'd from Virgil's Tomb near Naples. 1736.
By the same.
Bold was the irreligious hand,
That could all reverence withstand,
And sacrilegiously presume
To rob the poet's sacred tomb
Of so much honourable shade,
As this, so small a trophy, made;
Could dare to pluck from Virgil's brow
The honours Nature did bestow,
That could all reverence withstand,
And sacrilegiously presume
To rob the poet's sacred tomb
Of so much honourable shade,
As this, so small a trophy, made;
Could dare to pluck from Virgil's brow
The honours Nature did bestow,
Sweetly the gentle goddess smil'd,
And listen'd to her favourite child;
Whether in shepherd's cleanly weed
He deftly tun'd his oaten reed,
And taught the vocal woods around
His Amaryllis to resound;
And listen'd to her favourite child;
Whether in shepherd's cleanly weed
He deftly tun'd his oaten reed,
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His Amaryllis to resound;
Or taught he in a graver strain
To cloath the field with waving grain;
And in the marriage-folds to twine
The barren elm, and cluster'd vine;
To yoke the lab'ring ox, to breed
To the known goal the foaming steed;
And sung the manners, rights, degrees,
And labours of the frugal bees;
To cloath the field with waving grain;
And in the marriage-folds to twine
The barren elm, and cluster'd vine;
To yoke the lab'ring ox, to breed
To the known goal the foaming steed;
And sung the manners, rights, degrees,
And labours of the frugal bees;
Or whether with Æneas' name
He swell'd th'extended cheek of Fame,
And all his god-like labours sung,
Whence Rome's extended glories sprung;
He swell'd th'extended cheek of Fame,
And all his god-like labours sung,
Whence Rome's extended glories sprung;
The goddess smil'd, and own'd she knew
Th'original from whence he drew,
And grateful she spontaneous gave
This living honour to his grave.
Th'original from whence he drew,
And grateful she spontaneous gave
This living honour to his grave.
Hail, thou sweet shade, whose rev'renc'd name
Still foremost in the mouth of Fame,
Doth preference and value give,
And teach this little leaf to live,
Methinks secluded from that brow,
Where grateful Nature bad it grow,
This beauteous green should fade away,
And yield to iron-tooth'd decay:
But Virgil's name forbids that crime,
And blunts the threat'ning scythe of Time.
Still foremost in the mouth of Fame,
Doth preference and value give,
And teach this little leaf to live,
Methinks secluded from that brow,
Where grateful Nature bad it grow,
This beauteous green should fade away,
And yield to iron-tooth'd decay:
But Virgil's name forbids that crime,
And blunts the threat'ning scythe of Time.
| A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes | |